Page 6 - Flathead Beacon // 7.9.14

6 | JULY 9, 2014
NEWS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
W•O•R•D•S of the Week
AN INDEX OF RECENT NEWSMAKERS
SUN ROAD
Glacier National Park’s iconic Going-to-the-Sun Road opened on July 2 with a special guest leading the pack. Rhonda Hendricks, a hospice patient from Kalispell, rode the first Red Bus to Logan Pass.
PLANES
A trio of Boeing 737 fuselages took what might be their only flight ever near Alberton on July 3 after the Montana Rail Link train that was carrying them derailed, sending the massive aircraft bodies down an embankment into the Clark Fork River. Boeing officials are assessing the damage and the railroad was still trying to remove the planes from the water on Monday.
EARTHQUAKES
A team of scientists from Cornell, Columbia, the University of Colorado and the USGS has found that hydraulic fracking is the cause of a 22,900 percent increase in magnitude 3.0 or higher earthquakes in Oklahoma since 2008. Prior to that, the state saw one earthquake of that size per year.
GAZA
Israel and the militant group Hamas appear set on a collision course as an escalation of cross-border clashes erupts around the Gaza Strip.
Glacier Park International Airport
Bustling with Increased Air Travel
Packed Portland, Los Angeles flights reflect Kalispell’s growing regional terminal
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
Flying from Minnesota into Kalispell recently, Cindi Martin found herself crammed into an airplane that didn’t have enough seats for all the prospective trav- elers. The standby list had several people waiting behind as the plane embarked to- ward Northwest Montana filled to capac-
ity.It’s not an uncommon situation at Glacier Park International Airport these days. Fueled by a pair of new seasonal connections with major markets and the influx of summer tourists, Kalispell’s air- port is bustling and poised for another banner year.
On the eve of the busiest months of the year, air travel was already up 12.5 percent, with 136,565 passengers at GPIA from January through May, according to Montana Department of Transportation statistics.
For the month of May, there were 26,915 passengers, nearly 12 percent more than in 2013. Early estimates are that the month of June will also exceed last year’s total, which was 37,687 passengers.
“We’re definitely a high-demand desti- nation. There’s no doubt about it,” Martin, director of GPIA, said.
Statewide air travel was up 5.5 percent on the eve of the busiest months of the year, June through September. Bozeman, the state’s largest airport, was up 6.6 per- cent through May, and is also on pace for a record year.
Kalispell has seen the largest percent- age spike in passengers among the state’s six largest airports, according to the MDT.
A private plane takes off from Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell. BEACON FILE PHOTO
The early-season increase could fore- shadow a busy summer ahead.
A year ago, the summer months of July and August — the peak of tourism sea- son — were the largest in terms of total passengers with more than 60,000 both months.
The added boost this year is in large part due to two new seasonal flights to Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, strong markets that Martin has long hoped to connect to Kalispell.
Allegiant Airlines began operating daily flights between Kalispell and Los Angeles June 9, and Martin said she’s be- ing told they have been mostly full or near
capacity.
“That’s really exciting. We knew L.A.
was a strong market for us,” Martin said. “California is a strong market for us over- all, and it’s really not a surprise that those flights would be full.”
The flights continue through Aug. 23.
The second major addition at GPIA this summer, Alaska Airlines began non- stop service to and from Portland, also on June 9. The flights have similarly been fre- quently full or nearly full, Martin said.
“It’s been a busy flight in and out,” she said.
See Airport PAGE 30
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