Despite airline industry turbulence, Maine airports see spring traffic taking off
Photo / Jim NeugerAll signs are pointing to a busy spring for airports in Portland and Bangor. This photo shows an American Eagle Bombardier CRJ-900 being refueled at the Portland International Jetport.
By Renee Cordes
Despite ongoing airline industry turbulence with several major carriers scaling back short-term financial outlooks, Maine’s two largest airports see mainly clear skies ahead for the coming months.
“At this time we are still seeing positive capacity for the spring season,” Paul Bradbury, director of the Portland International Jetport, told Mainebiz.
“Our airlines have added significant additional capacity this spring, and we have a new carrier, Avelo Airlines, commencing service in May,” he said. "We do not have airline advance booking data, but we do know the number of seats the airlines have scheduled for sale out of PWM."
Outbound capacity data shared with Mainebiz show that between February and July 2025, airlines have 777,220 seats available for sale on flights departing from the Jetport, compared to 696,480 available seats the same period last year.
Bradbury called the 11.6% year-on-year jump "significant" but noted that the airport won't know the number of seats sold until a month after the flights occur.
Starting in May, Breeze Airways
offer flights between Portland and Columbus, Ohio, while Houston-based Avelo
will launch a twice-weekly route between Portland and Tweed-New Haven Airport in southern Connecticut.
Up north in the Queen City, Bangor International Airport is also banking on a busy spring despite some planned closures during the second part of its $45 million runway revamp project. (The first closure that will affect passenger, tenants and airlines will be from 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 22 until 11 a.m. the following day.)
“I can’t provide numbers as we don’t have forecasts, but if we continue to stay on trend, we will see a record number of passengers this spring,” said Aimee Thibodeau, the airport’s marketing and business development manager.
“Delta has added Atlanta and Detroit as seasonal flights, so we expect an increase there as both destinations provide a variety of options for travelers,” she said.
Wider view
The upbeat projections come even after four major U.S. airlines — Delta, American, Southwest and JetBlue — downgraded their first-quarter financial forecasts from earlier projections in their latest regulatory filings.
Reasons cited by the carriers range from lower consumer and corporate confidence caused by heightened macroeconomic uncertainty, to the impact of Jan. 29 mid-air collision in Washington, D.C, on domestic leisure travel.
All four carriers have flights out of the Portland International Jetport, while American and Delta are among carriers serving Bangor International Airport.
"We do pay attention to the revenue downgrades, but the more important data is what the airlines are actually scheduling for service," Bradbury said.
"The airlines are continuing to add capacity for 2025 over the record capacity we had in 2024 so they are not 'downgrading' their outlook on Portland's travel market this spring and summer," he noted.