PIERRE (KCCR) — The month of July was a good one for flying from Pierre. It was the same for a fellow Essential Air Service airport in Watertown. Watertown Regional Airport had 1,698 boardings in July. Pierre had 1,440 or 258 fewer passengers than Watertown. Pierre was close to Watertown’s July last year. July 2022 at Pierre Regional had 1,687 or 247 more than this July. Watertown Airport Manager Rob Cyrus says 1060 passengers flew to Denver from Watertown last month while 638 headed east to Chicago. For the year, Watertown is a just over nine-thousand enplanements at 9,004. Pierre is at 8,349 or 655 behind Watertown’s yearly enplanement count. Both cities are well on their way to meeting the 10-thousand enplanement threshold for eligibility for federal subsidy money to make airport improvements. So far in 2023, over 5400 passengers have flown to Denver from Watertown while just over 3500 have flown to Chicago.
