UPDATED: Peoria Int'l Airport Breaks 2019 Record With One Month to Go!

Peoria International Airport handled 741,724 passengers through November of this year, breaking the 2019 all-time record of 689,416 with one month still to go.

 

An article posted online today by WEEK TV-25 notes that PIA has broken passenger records for 14 of the last 16 months. 

This post will be expanded and updated later this evening. 

UPDATE

In November 2025, PIA handled 62,474 passengers, which was the 14th record for the past 16 months. December's tally need only be 58,276 to reach the 800,000 mark for the first time. So this year, not only did it break 700,000 for the first time, there is the possibilty that it will also break 800,000! 

If it does not reach 800,000 for the full year, it will be very close, and this means that passenger traffic will be up some 14 percent over 2024. 

Passenger traffic will continue to grow in 2026, but not at the pace seen in 2025. Why? Because PIA's 2025 gains aren't likely to be matched in 2025. United Express increased Chicago-O'Hare frequencies from three to five this year (since reduced to four), and added a daily nonstop to Denver. Likewise, American Eagle increased Chicago-O'Hare service from two to three frequencies and resumed a third to Dallas/Fort Worth. 

Improved business conditions and future prospects regarding lower fuel prices are likely factors for airline industry growth. American Airlines and United Airlines are engaging in a battle for Chicago-O'Hare, litigating over gate access. Competition is good. 

Keep in mind that these gains were made without Delta Connection, which cut back and then ended its Peoria-Atlanta nonstops in 2020 amid COVID-restrictions. The carrier once offered daily frequencies from Peoria to three hubs - Atlanta, Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul - but seems satisfied to provide service to the Central Illinois region only through Bloomington-Normal's Central Illinois Regional Airport, which will gain a third Atlanta roundtrip in March 2026. 

What can be expected in 2026? Allegiant Air's twice-weekly Nashville nonstops aren't scheduled to return as usual in May. Music City is about a seven-hour drive, feasible by car, so that may explain its elimination. Hopefully, service will return sometime in the near future. 

Long-term, I see Allegiant Air offering nonstops to Austin, Texas after a major terminal expansion is complete by 2030. Although the airline offers Peoria travelers seasonal nonstops to Destin/Fort Walton Beach, Florida, seasonal nonstops to nearby Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, Alabama (between Mobile and Pensacola) is also a possibility. 

- David P. Jordan