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2000 — 2025
The federal passenger series tells the airport's modern story in one column: Boardings (enplanements) at South Bend, from the Federal Aviation Administration's passenger boarding data, ran 432,439 in 2000 — the high-water mark of the hub era — then slid through the decade: 375,817 in 2001, 349,847 in 2005, 357,168 in 2008, 305,386 in 2011, to a trough of 299,592 in 2012. The recovery climbed back through 311,158 in 2014 to 417,929 in 2019, the year South Bend passed Fort Wayne (397,938) to reclaim second place among Indiana's airports. The pandemic cut the series to 209,214 in 2020 — a figure of 337,140 for 2020 circulates in the airport article's summary line, against the FAA table's 209,214; the FAA value governs and is the one printed here — then 341,343 in 2021, 363,078 in 2022, 411,377 in 2023, and 451,184 in 2024, past the 2000 peak at last. Total passengers tell the finish: the airport's pre-2025 record was 991,457 total passengers in 1997, and in 2025 South Bend set the all-time record — 1,111,002 ticketed airline passengers, up 23.5 percent over 2024, the fifth straight year of growth, with 41 of the fifty busiest days in the airport's history falling in 2025 and the first two months ever over 50,000 boardings (March, 50,602; October, 51,339). Counting the trains, the airport now states its multimodal terminal serves more than 1.5 million air and rail passengers a year.
Sources:
- Federal Aviation Administration, Passenger Boarding (Enplanement) and All-Cargo Data — the annual SBN series: 2000: 432,439; 2001: 375,817; 2005: 349,847; 2008: 357,168; 2011: 305,386; 2012: 299,592; 2014: 311,158; 2019: 417,929 (Fort Wayne 397,938); 2020: 209,214; 2021: 341,343; 2022: 363,078; 2023: 411,377; 2024: 451,184.
- St. Joseph County Airport Authority release, February 2026 (via Aviation Pros, 10 February 2026) — the 2025 all-time record of 1,111,002 ticketed passengers, +23.5% over 2024, the previous record 991,457 total passengers in 1997, 41 of the 50 busiest days in 2025, March 50,602 and October 51,339 boardings, and the 1.5 million air and rail passengers annually.