Columbia Metropolitan Airport surpasses 2018 record for passengers

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Columbia Metropolitan Airport set a record for number of passengers in 2018, and in 2019, it surpassed that record by more than 13%.

In 2019, 1,353,788 passengers traveled through the airport, according to a news release.

In October, growing numbers had airport officials anticipating as much as a 19% increase.

 “2018 was the best year we had in a decade, and 2019 just beat that record,” Mike Gula, CAE executive director, said in the release. “With passenger traffic up 13.03%, we’re thankful to the Midlands community for utilizing CAE. The more passengers that consider and choose CAE, the more opportunities we, along with our partner airlines, will be able to provide.”

Record passenger traffic is one of several milestones reached at CAE in 2019. Delta and American Airlines added nonstop service to New York/LaGuardia, increasing the number of options to travel to New York City to three, and American added a nonstop route to Miami.

In internal improvements, the airport added a nursing pod to provide traveling mothers a clean, safe place to breastfeed, as well as a new parking system to help visitors better locate open parking spots which CAE expects to be operational within a few months.

The airport also said that an upgraded lighting and HVAC system, part of the airport’s green initiatives, generated more than $430,000 in energy revenue and savings in 2019.