Tri-Cities Airport balances record traffic, $43 million expansion

The Tri-Cities Airport recorded its busiest year ever in 2015 thanks to new Portland and Seattle flights.

Washington’s third largest airport tallied 349,500 boardings in 2015 — up 6 percent from the year before.

December alone saw 5,000 more passengers. The 15 percent surge came after Delta Airlines began three daily flights to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Nov. 1 and Alaska Airlines added a sixth flight to Sea-Tac and one to Portland International Airport.

Ron Foraker, airport director for the Port of Pasco, credits a growing economy for boosting both business and leisure travel.

The Tri-Cities Airport serves a region with a population of about 1 million people. It is served by three airlines. Alaska flies to Seattle and Portland. Delta flies to Minneapolis/St. Paul and Salt Lake City. United Airlines flies to Denver and San Francisco.

Foraker said the rosy passenger numbers validate the port’s $43 million terminal expansion project, even if it means conditions get a bit tight.

The terminal is nearly doubling to 110,000 square feet. Passenger growth also bolsters its efforts to convince a carrier to add a direct flight between Pasco and Los Angeles.

The bond-funded expansion project is about 55 percent done and includes upgrading passenger areas and expanding the Transportation Security Administration area to three lanes. The added lanes will speed up security screening. A fourth lane can be added in the future, Foraker said.

The port set the stage for the expansion with $14 million in improvements to taxiways and other outside facilities.

Mead & Hunt, a national architectural and engineering firm, designed the expansion. Boulten Construction is the general contractor. Foraker said most subcontractors are based in the Tri-Cities.

“We’re putting people to work,” he said.

Foraker hopes the passenger growth figures will help the port add a critical new route in 2017. Together with the Tri-City Development Council (TRIDEC), the port is asking Alaska, Delta, United and American Airlines to add daily flights to Los Angeles International Airport.

The team is armed with a $750,000 Community Air Service Development Grant and $300,000 in local funds to help a potential partner with startup and marketing costs and to help guarantee revenue.

Studies indicate about 150 area residents travel to the Los Angeles area every day. Half travel from Pasco by way of Seattle, Portland or Salt Lake City. The rest skip their local airport altogether, choosing to depart from Seattle, Portland or Spokane.

Foraker said there’s enough business to warrant two Los Angeles flights. But he cautioned patience.

Officials meet with carriers this spring and don’t expect a commitment before late summer or early fall. It could take more than a year for service to officially start, Foraker said.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Tri-Cities Airport balances record traffic, $43 million expansion."