Indianapolis Airport Expects Long Drop In Passenger Flights

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis International Airport’s top official says it could take up to three years for the airport's flights to bounce back to the levels it saw before the coronavirus pandemic.

The airport’s flight activity has dropped to as low as 5 percent of typical operations since the virus outbreak spread across the U.S. in March, and it recently served only 14 of its 53 destinations, said Mario Rodriguez, the airport authority’s executive director.

Rodriguez said during Visit Indy’s annual State of Tourism event last week that the airport could have 45 percent fewer flights than originally expected for the year, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported.

Overall passenger traffic at the airport was down 51 percent in March from a year earlier.

Rodriguez said he expects activity to bounce back to 80 percent of normal in 2021. But he predicts that the airport will see lower-than-normal activity for up to three years.

He said it will be a “transformative period” for the industry.