(The Center Square) – Passenger levels at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport were at an all-time high in 2024, a sign that the Pacific Northwest’s largest airport has fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic of five years ago.
Passenger volume at Sea-Tac reached a record 52.6 million last year.
That 52.6 million number is also a 2% increase from 51.8 million in 2019, which was the previous record high.
The record year in 2024 was expected by the Port of Seattle, which forecasts another 2% increase in passenger traffic this year to a total of 53.5 million total passengers.
Prior to the pandemic, Sea-Tac was the fastest growing airport in the country for the five previous years. The airport had nine consecutive years of record volumes through 2019.
Sea-Tac’s growing rate of travelers indicate more people are frequenting the western Washington region. Port of Seattle Senior Media Relations Manager Perry Cooper said the passenger volume is a “mirror of the growth of the region.”
“Our region is one of the fastest growing in the country and we’ve seen that in passenger and operations growth occur in tandem,” Cooper told The Center Square in an email.
The Port of Seattle is able to track projected traffic with airline estimates. That is how 2024 was forecasted to be the year in which the airport would exceed 2019 numbers.
“Forecasts see the region’s growth continuing for 2025 and basically we’re going right back to the growth trend we had before the pandemic,” Cooper said. “It’s like the pandemic was the bump in the road and we’re back to record breaking years and see that continuing.”
From 2020 through 2024, the Port of Seattle’s capital spending totaled $2.3million with the included projections for 2024, as the final numbers are still being tallied for the year.
Construction costs will drastically increase over the next five years, with the Port of Seattle being budgeted $4.9 billion in capital spending. The Port of Seattle aims to complete key projects ahead of Seattle hosting 2026 FIFA World Cup events.
Airport funding comes from user fees, mostly airline landing fees, along with rents from airport tenants like dining and retail locations.