Colorado Springs ended 2021 with more passengers than any other year since 2008. It recorded 12% higher traffic than in 2019. The growth was because of Southwest, which began to serve the airport in March and immediately became the largest operator.
The best year for Colorado Springs since 2008
According to the airport’s passenger statistics, Colorado Springs saw nearly 1.9 million round-trip passengers in 2021. Almost 193,000 additional passengers were welcomed versus 2019. Traffic growth would have been even higher if demand kept pace with added seats for sale. It didn’t, which knocked all incumbent carriers’ seat load factors (SLFs):
- Southwest: 678,000 round-trip passengers in 2021; SLF of 64.7%
- United: 488,000; 78.2%
- American: 437,000; 78.9%
- Frontier: 182,000; 71.0%
- Delta: 85,000; 72.6%
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Passengers were up because of Southwest
Southwest entered Colorado Springs in March 2021, one of many airports added since November 2020. It began routes from Chicago Midway, Denver, Dallas Love, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, while Houston Hobby and San Antonio joined later.
All these airports (except San Antonio) are crucial for the LCC’s transit passengers. They also serve strong cities for point-to-point traffic to Colorado Springs, obviously excluding Denver. At just 73 miles (117km), the airport-pair – with a typical flight time of about 20 minutes – is Southwest’s shortest route.
Southwest carried almost four in ten Colorado Springs passengers in 2021, making it by far the airport’s leading operator. However, it had a SLF of just 64.7%, well under its system average that year. It was from its late entry in the market and a considerable amount of service – 13 departures a day – from the get-go during a pandemic.
Our Heart is growing across the country! Today we celebrate our inaugural service to Savannah/Hilton Head, Colorado Springs, and our first LA-area flights to Hawaii. Be sure to book your next getaway at https://t.co/5PIeYi2XLx. pic.twitter.com/ibCiRo1D7F
— Southwest Airlines (@SouthwestAir) March 11, 2021
Incumbents were all down, but…
According to the airport’s passenger data, United, American, Frontier, and Delta had fewer passengers in 2021 than in 2019. Frontier was especially badly hit. Its traffic reduced by 57.7% from cutting service to Atlanta, Minneapolis, San Antonio, and Washington Dulles. As such, Colorado Springs’ growth was entirely down to Southwest.
As the airport’s peak season is the summer, a nice contrast to other Colorado airports, incumbent carrier performance was generally better than other times of the year. Depending on the month, American often surpassed summer 2019 traffic thanks to adding a seventh-daily summer service to Dallas. However, it was offset by the end of Phoenix, a route picked up by Southwest.
What will happen this year?
The growth of Colorado Springs comes as other small leisure-driven airports have also done spectacularly well, such as Montana’s Bozeman and Florida’s Tampa St Pete. Of course, it raises the question of whether much higher levels of service and demand will remain as things gradually return to normal.
With 9% fewer seats for sale this summer versus last year, according to Cirium data, the peak season might have peaked, at least for now. However, summer 2022 is far from finalized, and things may change. It is hoped that SLFs (and fares) will continue to improve as service (especially Southwest’s) beds in and demand grows, potentially offsetting fewer seats for sale. Let’s hope so.
Have you used Colorado Springs recently? Share your experiences in the comments.
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