JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to hamper travel plans for many across the world, airports across North Dakota have seen a dramatic decrease in passenger boardings due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“September is seasonally one of our slowest months for air travel in the state of North Dakota and so as expected, we experienced a small dip in passenger volume from August” stated Kyle Wanner, Executive Director of the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission. “Our commercial service airports have now been successfully operating during the COVID-19 pandemic for seven months and during that time they have worked hard to ensure that a safe environment exists for the traveling public. Since air transportation is also one of the safest modes of transportation, it is critical that it continues to remain a viable option for our travelers.”

During the month of September, the Jamestown Regional Airport saw 385 passenger boardings.  This is an over 50-percent drop compared to last year’s number of 824.  So far this year, the airport has boarded 4,223.  This is the lowest year-to-date number since 2015.

Airports in North Dakota saw a decline in passengers in March when COVID-19 first became a concern for travelers in the U.S.  Commercial airports in Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks, Minot, and Williston are all down in boardings with an average of 56-percent decline.  The regional airports in Jamestown, Dickinson, and Devils Lake averaged a 58-percent decline in passenger boardings.

North Dakota has remained slightly higher in boardings with a more than 10-percent lead compared to the national boarding average.