Traffic up slightly in 2007

By LYNNETTE HINTZE/Daily Inter Lake

Passenger numbers held their own in 2008 at Glacier Park International Airport, despite a drop in passengers during the last four months of the year.

A total of 186,607 passengers were logged at the airport last year, up 0.3 percent from 2007.

Amid a global economic downturn, Glacier Park airport fared considerably better than the airline industry as a whole, airport Manager Cindi Martin said. Worldwide, aviation passenger counts are down some 9 percent.

"We didn't lose seats" last year, she said, although United reduced its frequency from two flights to one and Delta compressed capacity.

"We're actually up in the number of total seats" available, she said.

In recent high-growth years in the Flathead Valley, passenger counts at the airport north of Kalispell have reflected that growth, climbing steadily after a moderate dip following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

By 2002, the passenger total had rebounded to 159,991, then climbed to 167,540 in 2003. By 2005, a record 190,181 passengers were logged. Airport traffic was slower in 2006, with 175,445 passengers, but climbed more than 10,000 to 185,775 in 2007.

In addition to passenger decreases in September through December last year, the airport also had a slower July in 2007, with 26,773 passengers compared to 28,403 in July 2006.

THE airport currently is in the throes of updating its master plan, a requirement for every airport every five to eight years. The airport authority board of directors last week held a day-long workshop with consultants from CH2M Hill, a global engineering firm.

The master-plan update will focus on forecasts and improvements needed to accommodate growth at the airport for the next 20 years.

"Our terminal will need to grow," Martin said. "It's a matter of remodeling. It was designed and built before 9/11. Things aren't as efficient as they could be. …We don't need to add square footage."

A revamp of the terminal is one of the short-term needs, something that should be done in the next 10 years, she said.

"We're out of space for airlines," Martin said. "So if there was a new one, there would be no place for them."

Last summer the airport built three large clear-span corporate-jet hangars to meet growing aviation needs.

The big project this year will be resurfacing the airport's 9,000-foot primary runway, a $1.2 million project that will shut down the facility for 12 days in August. It is routine maintenance, something that must be done every 18 to 20 years to maintain the integrity of the runway landing surface.

A grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will pay for the runway rehabilitation.