Sioux Falls Regional Airport sets travel record in 2023

It was the busiest year yet for the Sioux Falls Regional Airport.

About 1.3 million people passed through the terminal, with 667,000 passengers flying out of Sioux Falls in 2023. It was 9 percent better than 2022, setting a new annual record.

The growth is “well above our 3 percent annual average, so a lot of people are taking advantage of flying out of Sioux Falls,” executive director Dan Letellier said.

“It really underlays the need for us to expand our facility to accommodate the number of passengers going through here.”

The new parking garage is still on track for a September opening.

Beyond that, though, planning continues for a future gate expansion. The airport is applying for a variety of federal funds, but nothing’s quick to materialize.

“There’s only so much money being allocated for small hub airports,” Letellier said, adding that there have been meetings with federal officials “to go over our project and try to fully explain the need of the project, the growth of the community and that the airport has had over the last 20 years and continues to see and fully expects to see down the road.”

The hope is to add at least five gates to support traffic volume, which carries at least a $130 million price tag.

Additionally, “we’re working with our architects and design team to look at what is the minimal amount we can have to have something useful when we’re done,” Letellier continued. “Let’s say we get one-third of it, what can we accomplish?”

The hope is to wrap up design options in the next couple of months, so a project would be ready to bid if funding became available.

Bonus: The plan could include a build-out for a federal inspection facility so that if U.S. Customs and Border Protection agreed to staff it, international passengers to destinations such as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or the Bahamas could be cleared in Sioux Falls.

“That’s a goal down the road,” Letellier said.