A baggage handler loads luggage onto an airplane at the Pocatello Regional Airport. Since adding a third daily SkyWest Airlines flight, the airport has seen double-digit growth in passengers.
POCATELLO — The passenger numbers at Pocatello Regional Airport are continuing to soar.
The airport has seen double-digit percentage growth in the number of passengers each month since the addition of a third daily SkyWest Airlines flight in March 2016. SkyWest Airlines serves as the Delta Connection to Salt Lake City International Airport.
The addition of the third flight increased the number of seats available to passengers by about 45 percent.
“It’s no coincidence that our double-digit growth began the same month that the capacity increased,” airport Manager David Allen said in a news release. “Our primary message to travelers continues to be that you can usually save money and time by flying from Pocatello compared to Salt Lake or Idaho Falls.”
When the new flight was added, Allen said the airport took up the challenge to make sure those seats were filled through an an extensive marketing campaign.
An ad-hoc committee with the Pocatello-Chubbuck Chamber of Commerce helped market the new flight to business people who are frequent flyers. The airport also marketed its value fares in other areas outside of the Gate City, such as Idaho Falls and Rexburg. Plus, Allen said the airport has used social media to promote the flights.
In the end, the campaign to keep the three SkyWest flights as full as possible has paid off.
Last month, those flights were 83 percent full.
“For us, that’s spectacular,” Allen said.
In February 2016, a month before the third flight was added, the two SkyWest Airline flights were only 73 percent full. Allen said that’s an indication on how fast business has grown at the airport over the past 15 months.
The total number of passengers taking flight at the Pocatello Regional Airport last month saw an 18 percent increase from May 2016. For the year so far, the total number of passengers at the airport is up 28 percent from the same time in 2016.
“This is phenomenal,” Allen said in a news release. “Obviously more and more people are discovering the benefits of flying from Pocatello.”
Allen said one of the benefits of flying from the Pocatello Regional Airport is that checking luggage and going through security is far easier than it is at international airports.
“It’s much easier to enter the system here in Pocatello than it is in Salt Lake City, even though it is just as thorough and effective,” he said. “It’s much more friendly because we are able to talk to each individual passenger as opposed to a group of people.”
The management at Pocatello Regional Airport also said that they offer numerous free amenities to passengers, including free parking, free Wi-Fi and complimentary coffee.
The airport also offers a book-sharing center courtesy of the Friends of the Marshall Public Library, a shoeshine station by Meyers Shoe Repair, a water refill station from Culligan Water Conditioning of Pocatello and a children’s play area.
In a news release issued last week, Allen also credited the airport staff for providing top-notch service to passengers.
“Everyone who works at the airport strives to ensure we provide the best service possible,” Allen said in a release. “The feedback we’ve heard from travelers shows we’re doing it right.”
