Charleston International has met a long-expected milestone by exceeding 6 million travelers for the first time in 2023.
The state's busiest airport saw nearly 470,000 passengers arriving and departing last month, boosting the year-end total by more than 15 percent to 6,153,540, the Charleston County Aviation Authority reported Jan. 18.
The previous high of 5.32 million was set in 2022.
Officials have previously attributed the monthly increases throughout last year to a post-pandemic uptick in travel and new destinations that airlines are serving from the Lowcountry.
Charleston International CEO Elliott Summey attributed the growth to significant investments in developing a business and leisure travel gateway that can keep up with the ever-increasing number of travelers.
Recent examples include new food-and-beverage options, an expansion of the jet fuel storage facility, the addition of more boarding gates and the completion of a 3,000-space parking garage.
As the airport infrastructure grows and more flights are added, Summey said the passenger record could reach 8 million over the next four years. He said one goal is to attract nonstop flights preferred by business travelers.
Explore Charleston CEO Helen Hill, who chairs the aviation authority, said more upgrades are on the way to accommodate the demand for airline services, such as a new passenger concourse, an expansion of the ticketing hall and more parking.
Charleston International reached a new passenger milestone in 2023, with more than 6 million travelers passing through the airport.
Hill said she expects to see continued momentum this year "as future airline schedules reveal increased seats inbound and outbound at CHS."
Already on the books is a new Charleston-Toronto service from Air Canada that launches in late March and a Breeze Airways nonstop flight to Los Angeles in May.
The airport's growth is closely tied to the region's population boom and a local tourism economy that's also thriving. The economic impact of the hospitality trade climbed to $12.8 billion in 2022, as the number of annual visitors set a new high of 7.7 million, according to the latest study.
"Increasing convenience and access for travelers in cities across the country has diversified our primary markets of visitor origin," Hill said. "We know that air travelers tend to stay longer and have a larger economic impact, which supports our strategy of prioritizing the value of each visit for our local community as opposed to the total number of visitors."
