Airport staff reports big passenger growth and parking revenue spike

Airport staff presented monthly and year-to-date passenger trends and said new SkyWest service and a June-start Phoenix flight helped drive growth.

Don reported that ‘‘for August, we are up about 34% over August 2025 and ... for the year, year to date we are up 25% from last year.” He also highlighted carrier participation from SkyWest (as United Express), American/Envoy and others and said the new service is adding passengers to the market rather than simply shifting them.

The board heard that parking revenue has grown sharply: “So our parking lot revenue is up 520.17% for August and then 40.02% for year to date,” Don told the board, and staff said the airport will likely end the fiscal year with about $1.2 million in parking revenue, significantly boosting operating receipts.

Staff also reviewed load factors and fares: combined Denver and Houston boardings were in the upper-60 percentile at the time of the report, and SkyWest expects an approximate 80% load factor on the Houston flight in September, though Denver flights remain lower on average. Staff framed fuel cost increases as a headwind but said projections used in the MRG were conservative.