For the first time, more than 25 million passengers traveled through Salt Lake City International Airport last year.
To be exact, 25,554,244 passengers arrived at or departed from the airport, an increase of 5.6 percent, the airport announced on Thursday.
Of those, 24.28 million were domestic passengers, up by 5.14 percent. Another 1.07 million passengers were arriving or departing on international flights, up 17.26 percent.
The current airport was designed to handle only 10 million passengers a year.
But the first phase of a $3.6 billion project to reconstruct the airport is scheduled for completion late next year, and will add a new terminal, concourses and parking garage.
“We are planning and building for continued growth,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director of the airport. “Even through construction, we continue to rank high in passenger surveys, which is a reflection of the great team we have on board.”
Salt Lake City International Airport was the nation’s No. 23 busiest airport, according to year-old 2017 data. It is Delta Air Line’s fourth largest hub (behind Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis), with 300 flights daily to 100 destinations.
