Flagstaff airport: passenger boardings up while operations fall; parking and fuel revenue rise

Airport operations staff presented mixed traffic and revenue results at the May 14 commission meeting, reporting increased passenger boardings alongside a decline in counted tower operations.

“April's employments were up 8% over 2025. We rounded out April with 8,145 employments,” the operations presenter said, noting first-quarter employments were 3.6% higher than the prior year despite fewer available seats on some carriers.

At the same time, staff reported that operations (takeoffs and landings) were down 21.8% for April compared with 2025. Staff said the discrepancy likely reflects a changing fleet mix and schedule adjustments rather than uniform declines across all flight types.

Parking revenue for the terminal and economy lots increased 9.9% in April, and fuel flow — the volume of aviation fuel dispensed — rose about 11.5% year‑over‑year for April and the first quarter. Staff told commissioners that fuel margins and fleet mix (more turbine/jet traffic) were contributing factors.

Operations staff also briefed commissioners on several facility and operational items tied to the uptick in larger-aircraft traffic, including apron re-marking to accommodate an A319, hold-room seating reconfiguration to add about 31 seats, and a point-of-sale vendor transition after a longtime vendor announced it would stop supporting its product in August.

Commissioners asked follow-up questions about parking capacity and whether the airport could support another carrier; staff said the airport currently had roughly 40% spare parking capacity under typical conditions and expected to absorb near-term growth.