Indy Airport Reaches Record

The IAA says the effort aims to showcase local foods

The Indianapolis International Airport Authority says 2016 was a record year for passenger travel. The organization says 8.5 million passengers traveled through the eight-year-old terminal last year. The all-time record for Indianapolis Airport operations was set in 2005 at the old terminal.

Officials say momentum for the big year was touched-off in November 2015, when the first monthly passenger record since 2008 was broken. Executive Director Mario Rodriguez says "we knew we were very likely looking at history-making news in the fall, when we saw an accumulation of record-breaking months in April, June, September and October. This has become a trend for IND. In the last three years, we’ve maintained or grown passenger traffic year over year in 33 of 36 months."

Last year, new nonstop flights took off for Chicago, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Punta Cana and Savannah. The IAA says its operations have a more than $5.4 billion economic impact and support over 22,000 jobs.

You can view more about the airport activity by clicking here.