Chattanooga Airport Sees Record-Breaking Year for Travel in 2025
The Chattanooga Airport has reported a record number of boardings in 2025, with nearly 632,400 passengers passing through its gates. This marks a 14% increase from the previous record of 556,900 in 2024.
April Cameron, President and CEO of the Chattanooga Airport, credits the community’s support for this growth. In an interview, she stated, “The biggest contributing factor to this growth is the community taking ownership of the airport and choosing to fly local. ” The airport has been actively promoting the benefits of using the local airport, and this has led to increased interest from airlines in establishing and maintaining direct flights from the facility.
With more people choosing to fly out of Chattanooga, airlines have responded positively, resulting in the addition of six new nonstop destinations in 2025 and 2026. Allegiant Airlines now offers flights to Punta Gorda and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, while American Airlines has launched twice-daily trips to Chicago. Nonstop flights to Fort Lauderdale are set to begin on February 12.
United Airlines has also announced plans to introduce nonstop flights to Newark, New Jersey, Houston, Texas, and Denver, Colorado. The Denver flights will be seasonal, operating from May 23 to October 24, while the Houston flights will start in March. Unfortunately, Allegiant Airlines has recently discontinued its twice-weekly service to Las Vegas, which will officially end on May 4.
Overall, passenger numbers at the Chattanooga Airport have increased by 41% over the past three years, with Cameron taking over as President and CEO in 2023. Before the pandemic, the airport recorded its then-highest passenger count of 554,000 in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a significant decline in air traffic, with passenger numbers dropping to 225,300 in 2020. Since then, there has been a steady rebound in passenger numbers.
The Chattanooga Airport is currently conducting a study to determine how many people in the 16-county area are choosing to fly out of Lovell Field. The previous study, completed in 2023, showed that the airport was losing about 60% of its traffic to other airports, primarily Nashville and Atlanta. Cameron believes that this number has changed, and the airport is now seeing more local support.
Over the past few years, the airport has focused on improving accessibility, convenience, and customer service to attract more passengers. This included a $28 million terminal expansion in 2024, which added more boarding gates, a new restaurant, gift shop, and business center. The airport has also broken ground on a new $35 million parking garage, which will provide an additional 1,600 parking spaces. This project is expected to be completed by February 2027.