Mesa Gateway Airport reports record growth, major private development and multi‑million dollar infrastructure plans

Brian O'Neil, executive director of the Mesa Gateway Airport Authority, told the Queen Creek Town Council that passenger traffic recovered strongly in 2024 and that the airport is on track for further growth in 2025, while more than 1,000,000 square feet of private development and several large infrastructure projects are under way.

O'Neil said 2024 was the airport's second‑best year for passengers and that the authority is "hopeful and optimistic" it will surpass 2,000,000 passengers in 2025. He credited increased schedules from Allegiant and Sun Country and noted Allegiant began nonstop service to Colorado Springs on Feb. 12, 2025.

The airport's private development pipeline includes a mix of aeronautical and non‑aeronautical projects the authority described as material to the East Valley economy. O'Neil said Virgin Galactic is setting up a manufacturing presence with a roughly 15,000‑square‑foot manufacturing facility plus a roughly 50,000‑square‑foot hangar where a mothership will be housed and that the company is hiring and "tooling up" later this year to build early commercial vehicles. He said a consortium called Amplifly…