BANGOR — Bangor International Airport passenger traffic has drastically declined since the pandemic hit the state.
According to statistics provided by BIA, 44,468 airline passengers went through the Bangor terminal in 2019. In April of 2020, however, only 2,333 of them traveled through the Peter R. D’Errico Passenger Terminal.
“In April we were down 95 percent. May we were down like 8. June that went up to like 77 percent. So as you can see it’s been a slow steady progression. But we’re still currently at about 60 percent of where we were at this time last year,” BIA Director Tony Caruso said.
Caruso said federal COVID-19 relief funding has helped bridge the gap the lost passenger revenue created.
“We’re still busy with some military flights. We were working some flights that came through that were filled with some essential PPE,” he said.
The number of passengers landing at BIA in 2020 stands in stark contrast to 2019, when the airport was setting records for passenger traffic every month from July through December.
The airport director said providing a variety of services has been critical in keeping the airport financially afloat.
“It certainly has helped our bottom line. And at the end of the day, we have not laid off our personnel,” he said.
Caruso said other airports across the country are suffering as well.
At least one air traveler said planes are already getting more crowded.
“I haven’t really had any concern because every time I’ve flown, everybody’s worn their mask. And I’ve seen the cleaning procedures. So it’s not something that I’ve been super concerned about,” said an air traveler headed to Tennessee.
