More than a million passengers showed their tickets at the South Bend International Airport in 2025. That's the most since 1997, just shy of a million.
The airport's passenger service grew 23.5% over 2024. Airport leadership was expecting the growth with the addition of three new routes:
- Breeze Airways' seasonal service to Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers
- Allegiant year-round service to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida
- American Airlines daily service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport
United Airlines also increased O'Hare flights to eight from six.
“We knew 2025 would be the airport’s first time serving over a million airline passengers,” said Mike Daigle, CEO and executive director of South Bend International Airport, in a press release. “We did not anticipate that record to be over 1.1 million.”
The official tally was 1,111,002 ticketed airline passengers, surpassing the 1997 record of 991,457 passengers. Last year also had 41 of the 50 busiest days ever recorded for the airport. Plus, two months surpassed the 50,000 benchmark: March at 50,602 and October at 51,339.
The airport celebrated the milestones this week with prize opportunities, a “Thanks a Million” playlist and a community celebration at the Morris Performing Arts Center. Also look for the South Bend River Lights in blue Feb. 10 and 11.
