BOZEMAN, MT (March 10, 2023) Based on current projections, we anticipate that BZN will enplane approximately 1,188,050 passengers in 2023 which would be another record. The projected 4.7% growth represents an increase of 52,369 enplanements over the previous annual records set in 2022.
Calendar year 2022 enplanements surpassed the previous record set in 2021 by 161,982 passengers. The increase was due to several factors including continued strong demand for travel to more remote areas of the country, and population growth in Southwest Montana. While some of the experimental markets of 2021 did not operate in 2022, several continued including Washington, D.C., San Diego and Austin. Overall, there was a maturing in the market after absorbing the significant growth from 2021 which included the addition of Southwest Airlines.
Factors that will positively impact BZN in 2023 include continued population growth but we anticipate that inbound travel demand growth will stabilize as the market continues to absorb the increases of 2021 and 2022 along with the unknown impacts of higher inflation and risk of recession. We do not expect to see additional airlines in the market during 2023 (with one possible exception) and at most one returning destination due to the continuing pilot shortage and retirements of smaller reginal jet aircraft nationwide. That being said, we are cautiously optimistic that BZN will perform better than many other markets throughout the Nation and maintain our position handling more than 40% of passengers traveling to or from Montana. We hope these projections by airport management will give some guidance for calendar year 2023 expectations, however, all projections are based on the information available as of March 2, 2023 and could change throughout the year.
