Valley airports see growing passenger numbers as flight options increase

Passenger numbers at the Valley’s two busiest airports continue to head upward heading into the busy summer travel season.

McAllen International Airport enplanements have topped 40,000 per month in 2024 with a high of 52,124 in March. In April, the airport saw 47,468 passengers boarded as Delta Air Lines began daily flights to Austin.

Harlingen’s Valley International Airport has seen similar numbers this year with a high of 48,247 in March. In April, 46,282 passengers boarded at the airport.

Southwest Airlines continues to dominate at Valley International with 20,687 passengers enplaned in April. The airline offers daily flights to Houston, Dallas and Austin, according to the airport website.

American Airlines and United Airlines, with regional jet service to their Texas hubs, have seen growing numbers at Valley International this year. American boarded 9,257 in April, while United had 8,915.

VIA’s seasonal operators, Sun Country Airlines and Delta Air Lines, ended Minneapolis service on May 6. Sun Country had 3,754 passengers in April, while Delta had 3,669. Sun Country begins summer flights to Cancun on May 31.

In McAllen, American leads in passenger numbers with over 23,000 boarded monthly. In April American reported 23,976 enplanements. United had 15,570 enplanements in April. Allegiant Air had about 5,000 passengers per month to start the year, with 4,561 boarded in April.

Aeromexico, which began service from McAllen to Mexico City in February, had 1,658 boardings in April. Delta had 1,531 passengers in its first partial month of service.

Numbers for Brownsville South Padre International Airport were not available.