UPDATED 3:40 P.M.
PEORIA, Ill. – The gates at Peoria International Airport have never been busier.
The airport announced on Thursday that 80,836 passengers went through PIA in July, a 26% percent increase over July 2024. It’s an all-time monthly high at the airport, with the 80-thousand threshold crossed for the first time ever.
PIA also continues a trend with 10 of the past 12 months setting monthly records.
Director of Airports Gene Olson says it wasn’t just one thing that helped PIA set the mark.
“It’s a combination of the three airlines that we have, they’ve not just stuck with us, they’ve added capacity into the Peoria Airport,” Olson said. “And then the really rewarding part of it is that passengers are responding to that and using those seats.”
Olson says include Allegiant Air providing additional flights and destinations, larger capacity planes from American Airlines, and United adding Denver as a destination. He says increased activity and traffic at O’Hare is also having a ripple effect in Peoria.
Olson also notes that PIA is operating at a pace that’s 20% ahead of last year’s passenger numbers.
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PEORIA, Ill. – July was another record-breaking month for Peoria’s General Wayne A. Downing International Airport.
For the first time in the airport’s history, PIA had 80,836 passengers, a 26-percent increase over last July.
The milestone not only sets a new all-time passenger high at PIA, but also continues an impressive trend with 10 of the last 12 months setting monthly records.
“This is truly a milestone moment,” Gene Olson, Director of Airports for the Metropolitan Airport Authority of Peoria says. “Crossing into the 80,000 range is something we’ve never seen before. It shows the strength of our market, the trust of our airlines, and the loyalty of our passengers who choose to Fly PIA.”
While July represents the peak of summer travel, airport officials say demand usually tapers off in August with a return of the school year. Still, PIA is preparing for a busy Labor Day holiday weekend, with over 14,000 travelers expected, representing a 17-percent increase over last year’s Labor Day weekend traffic.
“We’ve been operating about 20-percent ahead of last year’s passenger numbers,” Olson adds. “If that momentum continues, we’ll have even more to celebrate as 2025 comes to a close.”
PIA is encouraging Labor Day weekend travelers to plan ahead by checking their airline’s mobile apps, monitoring flight status, and arriving at least two hours ahead of departure.
