By Dave Thompson

BISMARCK, N.D. (Prairie Public Radio) – Nearly 1.2 million passengers boarded commercial airplanes in North Dakota in 2019.

That makes it the second busiest on record for North Dakota airports. And it was up about 10 percent from 2018.

Seven of the eight commercial airports in the state showed more passengers than they did in 2018. And three airports – Bismarck, Devils Lake and Fargo – set new records.

Kyle Wanner is the executive director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission.

Wanner says he also expects a spike from Williston, which has a new airport that opened in October. And he thinks 2020 will be a good year.

The only airport that saw a drop in passenger boardings was Jamestown, which was down 5.36 percent, or 633 passengers..

Jamestown Regional Airport topped 10,000 boardings for the fourth straight year, ending 2019 with 11,175 passengers for the year.