The General Wayne Downing Peoria International Airport is reporting record passenger traffic in March. More than 59-thousand people departed and arrived at the airport last month. That’s the largest number of people using the airport since last March when the monthly record was more than 56-thousand passengers. Airport Director Gene Olson says that’s a five-percent increase.
“I think to a large extent it’s spring break because you have the area colleges and universities going on spring break and some of the area school districts are on spring break. And people have been traveling during that time period, so that’s partially why we’ve been seeing increased numbers. We’ve also seen an increase not just in our leisure market, but we think the business market is doing strongly also.”
Olson says flights to Punta Gorda, Chicago, Atlanta and Minneapolis saw the largest gains in passengers. He says 2014 is already shaping up to be a good year for the airport. Olson says passenger activity is exceeding last year’s record pace by about two-percent.