Rodriguez: Air Travel in Transformation

Listen to this story

Subscriber Benefit

As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now

This audio file is brought to you by

0:00

0:00

Loading audio file, please wait.

Speed
1.00

• 0.25
• 0.50
• 0.75
• 1.00
• 1.25
• 1.50
• 1.75
• 2.00

Officials at Indianapolis International Airport say 7.1 million passengers in 2021 show the airport inching closer to pre-pandemic levels and it is clear who is leading the comeback: The leisure traveler. “It is just a transformative period in our industry,” said Airport Authority Executive Director Mario Rodriguez, who adds “a decade (of change) has been compressed into two years.”

Rodriguez says pre-pandemic, business travel accounted for about 45% of traffic and leisure 55%. Today, leisure represents 82% and business just 15%.

Rodriguez talked about the airport’s comeback on this weekend’s edition of Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.

Rodriguez says the leisure trend is also evident in a shift to “sun and fun” destinations. Of Indy’s 43 nonstop flights, 14 are to Florida destinations, up from 10 two years ago.

IND also recorded 1.3 million tons of total cargo and 5.7 million tons of landed weight last year, both records, FedEx processed the highest volume of cargo in its history at the airport and is continuing a $1.5 billion expansion at its Indy hub.