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BUFFALO, N.Y. — In 2024, the airport saw five million passengers travel through its halls, the airport announced in a post on social media.
It marked just the second time in the last decade that the airport saw that many passengers and the most since 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is a very big deal,” said Pascal Cohen, the marketing manager for the NFTA. “That’s really kind of the magic number.”
The return to pre-pandemic numbers comes after an especially challenging period for the aviation industry that, just within the past decade, saw multiple airlines mergers and the challenge of convincing passengers to fly during a pandemic.
Cohen credits convenience as the key to the airport’s success, adding 12 new nonstop routes just within the past this year to destinations like Nashville, Dallas, Los Angeles and Palm Beach.
He said he believes those additions are making customers from all across the region choose the drive to Buffalo Niagara over airports like Rochester and Toronto.
“We say, save time, save money, come to Buffalo,” he said.
Passengers that spoke with 2 On Your Side at the airport Monday shared that sentiment.
“It’s definitely closer, nowadays, with the traffic from St. Catharines to Buffalo than to go from St. Catharines to Toronto,” said Niko McCormack.
“We can leave our home and be through the gate in 20 minutes. Nothing like it,” said Mary Neward.
But the industry is still not immune, as just last week, a tragedy at Reagan Washington National Airport took the lives of nearly 70, causing some fear among travelers nationwide.
But Cohen and the passengers are confident that won’t keep folks from taking to the skies and visiting Buffalo Niagara International Airport this year.
“I mean, at the end of the day, there’s nothing you can really do,” McCormack said. “You’ve gotta trust the science, trust the statistics. I know there’s better statistics flying than there is driving.”
Cohen says the airport’s next goal is to reach 5.5 million passengers.
