PIERRE, S.D. (KCCR) – Enplanements at Pierre Regional Airport are slowly on the upswing after bottoming out in April. Airport Liaison to the Pierre City Commission Jamie Huizenga says boardings are moving in the right direction.

Enplanements for January were 1,307 and February was at 1,345. The dropped to 668 in March before hitting the basement in April with only 41 people flying out of Pierre. Enplanements then increased to 127 in May and 228 in June. 10,000 enplanements in a calendar allows the Pierre Regional Airport to become eligible for federal airport improvement money.

Pierre would need to see approximately 1,050 passengers per month for the rest of the year to hit 10,000 or apply for a waiver from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Air service to Pierre returned to full strength earlier last week.

In a cost saving move, United Airlines added a stop in Scottsbluff, Nebraska to the SkyWest Airlines route between Pierre and Denver. T-S-A screening are used a gauge of air travel across the nation.  Daily screenings as of July 2 were 800,000 screenings or 40-percent of the pre-Covid-19 demand for commercial air service.