Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport is expected to end 2024 with a record number of passengers, according to new data released Tuesday by airport authorities.

“It looks like we will handle around 700,000 passengers total this year,” said airport manager Jon Stout. That number would surpass the current record of 641,178 passengers in 2023, a number that also surpasses the final 2022 count of 614,482.

The airport has recovered stronger each year since the peak of the pandemic in 2020. That year, the airport handled just 195,303 passengers. But the Santa Rosa facility bounced back in 2021, handling 435,427 passengers – just shy of the pre-pandemic record of 488,179 passengers in 2019.

The airport also set monthly records.

“In June we had our highest passenger volume ever, and then July came and we surpassed June,” Stout said.

With the opening of Avelo Airlines’ base at the regional airport in May, markets have grown and there are more opportunities, Stout said, although some routes have been discontinued because they have been replaced by others.

In addition, Alaska Airlines, the airport’s primary carrier, has increased frequencies on some of its routes, including to San Diego, Seattle and Los Angeles, Stout said, noting that Alaska’s growth at the site will likely continue when service to Las Vegas opens on Oct. 1.

At the other end of the spectrum, however, there is some disappointment.

“It’s a little frustrating with Dallas,” Stout said, as American Airlines continues to offer the flight only seasonally despite it having consistently performed well. “So we’ll try to work with them on that.”

American is expected to suspend service to Dallas on December 5 and resume service on May 5, 2025. The airline began service to Dallas from its regional airport in June 2019.

In the first seven months of the year, Sonoma County Airport reportedly handled 396,877 passengers, up 13% from the previous year.

July year-over-year figures show that Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Avelo Airlines together carried 74,730 travelers, up 33.6% from July 2023.

Avelo carried 18,513 passengers through Sonoma County Airport in July, up 94.8% year-over-year, with load factor at 68%.

As previously reported, Avelo will discontinue service to Salem, Oregon, and change its service to Kalispell, Montana, from year-round to seasonal.

“(Kalispell’s) season ends on August 31st and we’ll resume on November 23rd,” Stout said, adding that he doesn’t expect Avelo to make any further changes this year.

Alaska Airlines carried 45,153 passengers through its Santa Rosa facility in July, up 18.6% from July 2023. Alaska’s load factor—a measure of how full its planes are on average—was 85% in June.

And American Airlines flew 11,064 travelers through the Santa Rosa location last month, 32.4% more than in July 2023. Load factor was 89%.