Sept. 12, 2024

It didn’t matter that there were fewer seats available than a year ago.

It didn’t even matter that what has been called the largest computer outage in history disrupted flights for days.

The Sioux Falls Regional Airport still set an all-time record in July for any month of travel, contributing to a 6.7 percent increase year-to-date in passenger traffic.

“And it would have been higher,” executive director Dan Letellier said, pointing to large flights on Delta Air Lines to Minneapolis and Atlanta that were canceled and impacted the final numbers.

“And we have about 2 percent fewer available seats for sale, so flights are fuller.”

All those people soon will have more options for parking as the airport’s new four-level parking ramp is set to bring about 1,000 more spaces when it officially opens at the end of the month.

A ribbon-cutting is set for Sept. 30, so the first time travelers should count on covered parking is after that, Letellier said, although there may be limited options for a “soft opening” before then.

In the meantime, some of the long-term surface parking that was taken up during construction will be available within the next couple of weeks, he said.

“We have another 200 long-term surface spaces that will become available,” Letellier said. “So it should be fewer situations where that lot is closed because it’s full.”

While the ramp will open at the end of the month, the contractor for the skyway and addition to the terminal building with multiple escalators has until Oct. 11 for final completion, which means initial travelers using the ramp will exit on the ground level and walk across the street to the ticketing area and baggage claim.

“We’re getting closer, so it’s exciting,” Letellier said. “I think people will be pleased with how it looks.”

When the ramp opens, a shuttle to the economy lot will be discontinued, although those lower-priced spaces still will be available. It will be an additional $4 per vehicle per day to park in the ramp versus uncovered parking.

This fall also should bring more seats for travelers, Letellier said.

“September we are down a little bit compared to last year, but October, November, December look really good with 17 to 20 percent more seats,” he said. “It’s hard to say until we get there because airlines can make changes, but it’s real positive for the rest of the year.”

Construction planning and development also will continue once the parking ramp is done. A project recently was awarded to expand the cargo apron, allowing for expanded use by FedEx, UPS and potentially other carriers.

“There are times of the year, especially November, December, peak holiday rushes, where UPS and FedEx both have two flights on the ground at the same time, and that causes congestion,” Letellier said, adding the project also will “allow for additional flights, so if Amazon, the Prime Air product, wants to start up service here, we’d have the room for it or a third cargo carrier like DHL, but it also sets us up for redevelopment of that area for a new cargo warehouse. We’d partner with a third party to construct that. We realize we have a lot of important users, and cargo is one of those.”

The airport also is moving forward with plans to expand the concourse by at least five gates, allowing for more and larger planes to serve the market, including staying overnight.

“We’re on the final lap of design,” Letellier said.

The airport has hired the team of Des Moines-based The Weitz Company and Sioux Falls-based Journey Construction to partner on the project. Weitz has experience with airport projects in major markets, including Chicago and Dallas, Letellier said.

“It’s going through the pre-construction design phase to review the design and start to put together the guaranteed maximum price for construction,” he said. “We do have the project broken into multiple phases as funding is available.”

The airport has applied for multiple federal grants and should start finding out if money has been awarded in the next few months, he said.

“That really is a key factor if we will go forward with the base bid of construction next year,” he said. “We’re hopeful, but we’ll see.”