Pierre joins Watertown in seeing lower enplanement numbers (Audio)

May 8, 2024

PIERRE, S.D.–Higher fares on connecting flights on United Airlines have been a drag on enplanement passenger numbers out of Watertown and Pierre this year.

Watertown has filed to crack 1,000 enplanements in a month in 2024, and Pierre’s numbers are down too.

Last month, Pierre saw 867 people fly out of the capital city, and city commissioner Jamie Huizenga says that’s the lowest number they’ve seen in quite some time…

Of the 867 people, 814 went to Denver and 53 went to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Denver Air Connection currently provides 10 round trip flights each week between Pierre and the Denver International Airport, and two weekly round trip flights between Pierre and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The MSP flights will end on June 9th due to poor ridership.