ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – More than 756,000 travelers chose to use the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport in 2024. That broke the old record, set nearly a quarter-century ago, by almost three percent.
The airport says the added volume was split nearly right down the middle between locals flying out of the region, and visitors flying in. Officials said that’s a great economic sign.
“The airport doesn’t drive economic impact, it doesn’t drive passengers, it’s just the other way around,” Mike Stewart, the executive director of the airport, said. “As the economy here is getting stronger and people are traveling, people want to come here from other places to see our beautiful Blue Ridge.”
For those looking to use the airport to travel elsewhere, expect new flights out of Roanoke this year.
Starting February 14, Allegiant Air will offer weekly non-stop service to Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, giving the airport its ninth different non-stop destination, and the first new one in more than 15 years.
“Allegiant flies to Orlando-Sanford and also St. Petersburg, Florida, and they do very well on both of those and have since 2006,” Stewart said. “This one to Sarasota they’ve announced is a year-round destination, so we just need everybody to continue to come out and support them.”
One big sign that the airport had a good year in 2024: all three parking lots were totally filled around Thanksgiving. Stewart said he couldn’t remember that ever happening before.
However, to keep that good problem from becoming a big problem, the airport is set to begin the final phase of its parking lot enhancement project next month, providing a bit more space for this year’s holiday rushes.
“Once that’s done, we’ll have the infrastructure to build and improve it more going forward,” Stewart said. “It’s really just a totally different experience out in the parking lot now.”
Stewart said he hopes to finish the project this spring.