Business at Maine’s two largest commercial airports appears to be rebounding and then some, although data suggests the pandemic’s effects may still linger.

Bangor International Airport is adding a new route, preparing to break ground on a terminal renovation, and forecasting passenger traffic that could roughly double the 2021 level by 2040.

Portland International Jetport just recorded its busiest June ever for passenger traffic. Despite historic rainfall across southern Maine, last month more than 240,000 people arrived or departed at the jetport.

Airport gates at Bangor have also been getting busier. Passenger volumes hit five-year highs in 2023 for January and February. The 2022 annual total of nearly 684,000 passengers surpassed the total of 606,000 during the last pre-pandemic year, 2019.

In another sign of growth, the airport last week announced that budget carrier Allegiant will add a new nonstop route between Bangor and Punta Gorda, Florida, beginning Nov. 16. The new route restores one that Allegiant flew until several years ago. Punta Gorda, near Fort Myers in southwest Florida, will be the third Allegiant nonstop destination from Bangor and the 15th destination among all airlines flying out of Bangor.

Bangor International last year was awarded $14.2 million in federal infrastructure funds to upgrade its terminals and parking area. In April, the airport released its master plan for the work and now is contracting and making other preparations for a 2024 project start.

The renovations include connecting the international and domestic terminals, creating space for concession sales beyond the security checkpoint, and improving access to the limited-use international terminal.

The master plan also estimates that annual passenger boardings at the airport could exceed 360,000 in 2030 and over 420,000 by 2040, roughly twice the 209,700 boardings in 2021. (The plan does not include estimates for the number of passengers arriving in those years.)

Not all the numbers are so bullish, however.

Monthly passenger volumes last year at Bangor International fell slightly from July through December compared with the 2021 totals, according to airport reports. After the record highs for January and February in 2023, the totals were again down during March, April, and May compared with the same months in 2022.

That’s partly because March, April, and May were record-setters last year, with passenger traffic increasing 81% over 2021 levels.

The airport’s interim co-director, Aimee Thibodeau, said Bangor International is aiming for a happy medium in passenger traffic this year.

“I think we are right on target or a little above,” she said. “Our sweet spot to hit right now are those numbers between 2019 and 2022. 2019 was a record year for us; 2022 was a record year for us. So, we’re hoping to land somewhere in the middle.”

SEASONAL EFFECTS

In Portland, the signs of growth are also mixed.

The jetport has added service from an eighth carrier, Breeze Airways, which started flights between Portland and five nonstop destinations in May. Last week, Breeze announced it will begin flying to another stop – Orlando, Florida – on Sept. 6.

Paul Bradbury, airport director at the jetport, said capacity is increasing, with the number of flight seats for sale from June through October up 6% over the same period in 2019.

That year was the busiest ever for the jetport, according to its records, with 2.2 million passengers flying through Portland.

Unlike Bangor International, however, Portland International didn’t quite reach pre-pandemic popularity last year – passenger volume was under 2 million.

And despite the jetport’s record-setting June, passenger traffic for the first four months of 2023 was 17% below the 2019 total for the same period, 567,000.

“The trends as you might expect are a little different than what they were pre-pandemic,” Bradbury said. “We are really seeing where the growth is back to that greater seasonality, whereas coming into the pandemic, we had smoothed the market over the entire year.”

In Bangor, where traffic spiked and then fell last year, the same trend may be occurring.

Seasonality may also be influencing air travel nationally. This year, June 30 became the busiest air travel day in U.S. history, according to the Transportation Security Administration. The 2.9 million people who checked into security screenings that day surpassed the previous record, which was set on Dec. 1, 2019.

In 2019, nationwide air travel reached over 1.05 billion passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. After plummeting more than 50% in 2020, the number of passengers approached pre-pandemic numbers last year with over 917 million travelers.

“All airports nationwide are doing our best to catch up for the lost years of the pandemic,” Bradbury said.

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