RAPID CITY, S.D. — Christmas brings many things for families.
There’s the hopeful, energetic wakeup in the morning, or the quality time spent with family members. But there’s also the element of travel that many have to put in to see their family.
Travel can be hectic and that’s why airlines around the country are bracing for a busier holiday traveling season.
“We’re hearing right now from the industry that really this is going to be one of the busiest travel times of this year,” said Patrick Dame, the Executive Director of Rapid City Regional Airport.
Dame also expanded on this particular time of the year not being the busiest time for RAP as it may be for other airports.
Dame continued, saying that the biggest time of the year for the airport is the summer months, which actually led to a record breaking month in November.
“As we came through Thanksgiving, that traveling holiday, we had a lot of customers help us set a record in November,” Dame said. “You know, as we finish out the end of the year this year, depending on how strong the Christmas season is, we could be close to or see a new travel record for our airport.”
Although summer is typically stronger in terms of passenger count for the airport, Dame says that RAP expects between 20,000 to 27,000 travelers during the holiday season.
Another element that plays a big role for RAP is parking revenue. Truth be told, if you’re traveling right now, it’s a little difficult finding a place to park at the airport.
“With those revenues, those are things that we put towards the further development of the airport, so it’s, you know, those funds are extremely important to us in our ability to be able to continuously make improvements to the facility,” Dame said.
Dame says that the airport puts more of an emphasis on making sure there are parking spaces available during this time.
The airport looks to use the parking revenue for improvements to the facility, including a terminal expansion already under discussion.
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