Des Moines International Airport drew 2.77 million passengers in 2018, breaking the record set the previous year by 7.6 percent. The previous record was approximately 2.58 million, which was 3.8 percent over 2016.

For the first time, the airport exceeded 200,000 passengers in every month in 2018. 

The growth in 2018 was more than twice the 3 percent airport officials had projected and also above the national average, the airport reported.

In December, the airport saw a 12.8 percent increase in passengers over the previous December. American Airlines had 30 percent of the total, Delta Air Lines 23 percent, United Airlines 20 percent and Southwest Airlines 12 percent. 

Frontier Airlines saw the biggest gain at 17.2 percent year over year.

“We have seen record-breaking numbers of passengers month after month over the past year,” said Kevin Foley, airport executive director. “Though we anticipated 2018 would be a large growth year, we remain concerned about the facility’s capacity to accommodate increases in the coming years. With passengers in mind, we will continue to push forward with our terminal project construction already underway, and look for the necessary funding to close the gap to complete the project — culminating in a new passenger terminal.”

Foley said the airport will continue to make changes to avoid delays in moving passengers through the airport. 

The record came in large part due to the addition of bigger planes and new flights that included American Airlines’ nonstop flights to Philadelphia and Frontier Airlines’ direct service to San Francisco. Delta, Southwest, United and Allegiant Airlines all added seats. 

Read our previous article on the move to bigger planes and more seats.