Sky Harbor officials ready to take advantage of record-breaking stretch
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport just recorded its busiest four-month run in the airport’s history, and there is no sign of business slowing down.
From January through April, nearly 17.7 million people traveled through Sky Harbor’s terminals — a 6.7% increase from the same timeframe in 2023, according to data from the Phoenix Aviation Department. The huge passenger count during that span, which aligns with Phoenix’s primary tourism season, also marks a 25% increase from the total passenger count during the primary tourism season in 2014.
It’s a sign of Phoenix’s elevated standing over the past decade, while also offering a window into the opportunity at hand for the growing international airport – including a long-desired nonstop route to Asia.
“There was a time many years ago when Phoenix was viewed to be a low-yield market for airlines,” said Chad Makovsky, the aviation director for the city of Phoenix. “The perception was people came to Arizona to vacation and go to the Grand Canyon. The good news is, people are still coming to Arizona to do that, but they’re also coming because of the friendly business climate. They’re coming here for business and taking vacation at the same time.”
Just in April, Sky Harbor recorded 4,526,096 total passengers – a 6.2% increase from April 2023, according to a May 29 report from the Phoenix Aviation Department. The month prior, Sky Harbor reported the busiest month in its history with more than 5 million passengers.
The airport expects to continue seeing double-digit passenger growth for the rest of 2024 and into 2025, Makovsky said.
About a decade ago, Sky Harbor’s passenger traffic was about 60% origin and destination (O&D) passengers – people who leave the airport once they arrive – and 40% were just connecting at Sky Harbor to other flights. But Makovsky said just 25% of passengers have connecting flights these days, while 75% are here to visit.
“Airlines can move passengers over any hub they choose, whereas O&D passengers are a market that the airlines are all going to want to serve,” Makovsky said. “Delta, United, Frontier and a lot of our ultra-low cost carriers are all growing their flights here and it’s because of that O&D shift that we’re seeing in the growing market that we have.”
International travel has been key to Sky Harbor’s growth strategy.
Through the first four months of 2024, passengers either headed to or coming from an international destination to Sky Harbor totaled just over 1 million — up 12.6% from the first four months of 2023. Compared to the same time frame in 2019, this year’s results are up 25%.
The majority of Sky Harbor’s international destinations are either in Mexico or Canada, but it does have two nonstop flights to London. Meanwhile, Air France launched its nonstop flight from Phoenix to Paris in May and Condor started its direct seasonal service between Phoenix and Frankfurt, Germany on May 20.
Air France has been impressed enough with early demand to move the flight from a seasonal operation to a year-round route. The company said its first few flights between Phoenix and Paris were at 97% capacity, outperforming initial predictions.
The success stories have Sky Harbor officials believing the airport has more room to grow its international offerings.
“Our data shows that we are underserved in terms of the demand that’s coming from Europe,” Makovsky said. “We think we can handle more nonstop flights to Europe. And of course, Asia is the highest on our radar.”
Companies like Intel and TSMC, as well as their suppliers, have major operations in the Phoenix metro and could lead to greater demand for direct flights to Asia, whether that is Tokyo, Seoul or Taipei.
Operating a daily nonstop flight from Phoenix to a major city in Asia would cost an airline more than $100 million a year, so ensuring the demand for such a flight is imperative for an airline. Makovsky said he is optimistic that a direct flight from Sky Harbor to Asia will be announced in the “next couple of years.”
While Makovsky said passenger growth is expected to eventually slow to about 2.2% annually, the airport has ways of handling the growth — at least until a new terminal comes online sometime next decade.
Anticipating more growth, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego recently called on the Phoenix Aviation Department to start the process of building another terminal at the airport. The process is expected to take years with a completion date currently set for the late 2030s.