GREAT FALLS — If you plan on taking a vacation soon, you certainly aren’t alone. You can expect to see more travelers if you’re using Great Falls International Airport.
Airport director John Faulkner says this is one of the busiest times of the year and after a a slow start to the busy season due to Covid, they are anticipating lots of full planes.
“It’s nice because now we’re at numbers for a slower month during a normal year as opposed to something more catastrophic,” Faulkner said.
According to Faulkner, GTF had as few as 600 travelers per month last year when Covid restrictions were in place, but that number is now back in the tens of thousands. He anticipates the busy season will run through the month of August. Another factor is increased numbers is Canadian traffic crossing the border to come fly out of Montana.
“They make up around 10 to sometimes 20 percent of our travelers on a good year,” Faulkner added.
Along with Canadians, central Montana communities use the airport as their main airport.
“I have kids in Seattle and Colorado… and we love to travel, my husband and I,” said Keri Woodwick of Havre while dropping family off at the airport.
While last year involved minimal travel, 2019 was one of the airports busiest years and Faulkner hopes to be at about 80 to 85% of the 2019 numbers by the end of the year.
