‘Milestone’: Worcester Regional Airport’s passenger numbers highest since pandemic What’s next?
WORCESTER - Worcester Regional Airport announced air travel has fully returned since before the COVID-19 pandemic with 193,000 passengers in the 2023 fiscal year.
“This milestone proves that the Leisure market is robust,” Assistant Director of Media Relations Samantha Decker said in an email to the Telegram & Gazette. “We understand the need for airlines to remain adaptable to support their lines of business.”
The Worcester Regional Airport was closed for more than 10 months during the height of the pandemic in 2020, according to a release from the Transportation and Security Administration.
During the pandemic, TSA officers at Worcester Regional Airport were only screening about 14 passengers a day as opposed to the 307 per day average in 2019.
Decker said a main challenge the airport faced during this time was responding to the overall suspension of commercial flights from September 2020 to August 2021. During the time they were closed, however, Decker said the airport worked on “airfield improvements.”
“When the flights returned, there were approximately 28% more daily seats flying in and out of Worcester,” Decker said.
In April of 2022, the Massachusetts Port Authority Board of Directors unanimously approved a three-year $1.3 billion spending plan which invests about $300 million into new projects like roadway optimizations, runway rehabilitation and net-zero carbon emission initiatives.
Decker also said by the time the seasonal flights to Fort Myers, Florida, kick in, the total daily seats will be “58% greater than prior to the pandemic.” Next January the airline JetBlue will add Fort Myers to its list of destinations out of the Worcester airport, according to Decker.
“(The milestone) also means that the region is supporting commercial air service,” Decker said. “We are hopeful that when the business sector begins to rebound, the airlines will continue to be adaptable by returning service to their strategic business markets.”
Decker also said bookings remain fairly solid for the 2024 fiscal year with the strongest month of air service since 2013.