Chattanooga Airport traffic to near half-million boardings in 2023 in post-pandemic come back, CEO says
Chattanooga Airport Chief Executive Terry Hart said Monday he expects passenger boardings to climb to nearly a half million this year at Lovell Field and hit its highest mark since the pandemic took the air out of traffic.
Hart, who is retiring from the CEO job Aug. 1 after about 12 years, told the Airport Authority he projects boardings to reach about 480,000, up from 432,000 in 2022.
"I think it will get better as time goes on," he said, adding passenger boardings through June at the airport came in at 229,830, up nearly 9% from the first half of 2022.
Hart said at a meeting of the airport panel that passengers at Lovell Field filled 92% of all available seats in May, which was the best monthly level since December 2019.
The airport experienced the last of five consecutive record years in 2019, when Lovell Field set an all-time high mark of 554,050 passenger boardings.