Airline passenger numbers at Tucson International Airport (TUS) grew by 5% in 2019 to almost 3.8 million – the fifth busiest year in the airport’s history, according to statistics released at the Tucson Airport Authority’s annual meeting Monday (January 27).

“With four consecutive years of consistent growth, we are now to the point where TUS is approaching the record-setting years of over 4 million passengers before the Great Recession,” said Danette Bewley, President and CEO of the Tucson Airport Authority. “The past decade left its mark on our region but recent business successes and the recovery of our tourism industry are showing up in these improved passenger numbers.”

The exact number of passengers for the year was 3,797,201, an increase of 179,377 over 2018.

Bewley noted in her State of the Airport address to the TAA membership that just 2,800 more passengers would have 3.8 million, which could easily have happened, had it not been for unforeseen circumstances such as the grounding of the Boeing 737MAX, which caused airlines to reduce their schedules.

“Not only did that event put financial stress on airlines, it impacted airports and others as well,” Bewley said. “Our mutual success is inextricably intertwined.”

All eight airlines serving TUS reported increased passenger.