PIERRE, S.D.(KCCR)- The City of Pierre released final enplanement numbers from Pierre Regional Airport Tuesday night.  Airport Liaison to the Pierre City Commission Jamie Huizenga says 2022 was a great year.

December enplanement ended up at 1,141 which was 484 fewer than November’s 1,652.  December was the third worst month for enplanements at Pierre.  July was tops with 1,687 followed by November at 1,625; June and October tied for third with 1,508 followed by May at 1,488, September at 1365; April at 1,251; March at 1249, then December, February and January.  Huizenga says the city is looking forward to continued growth at the airport.

Denver Air Connection is the only airline to make a bid for Pierre and Watertown; proposing three options; two of which include east routes to either Minneapolis or Chicago.  Pierre and Watertown have about two weeks to make a recommendation to the US-DOT.  Pierre surpassed Watertown for yearly enplanements.  Watertown had 14-thousand 631 enplanements, down from over 18-thousand in 2021.  Watertown for the year carried nearly 1500 fewer passengers than Pierre.  Blizzard conditions impacted Watertown Regional Airport.  Five outbound and four inbound flights were canceled.  Watertown only had 957 December enplanements; 612 to Denver and 345 to Chicago.