2018 Was A Record-Breaking Year At CVG

The airport handled 8.9 million passengers and 1.2 million tons of cargo.

Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. File photo.

(Hebron, Ky.) –  About 8.9 million passengers flew through the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport in 2018, making it one of the fastest-growing airport in the U.S.

The volume of passengers is the largest at CVG since 2010, and is a 13.9 percent increase of more than 1.1 million passengers from 2017’s total.

Fueling the growth are ever-decreasing airfares, with passengers paying an all-time low average price that is $240 lower than four years ago. That is largely due to the rise of low-cost carriers including Southwest Airlines, Frontier and Allegiant Air.

Like many of those carriers, Delta Air Lines expanded service from Cincinnati last year. It added new routes to Austin and Phoenix.

Last year was also remarkable for the cargo tonnage which lands and takes off at CVG, much of moved by Amazon and DHL hubs there. At a record 1.2 million tons, cargo saw an increase of 19.6 percent from 2017. The airport was the eighth-largest cargo airport in North America and 34th in the world.

“The positive growth we’re experiencing at CVG is because the community continues to embrace what’s next with additional air-service options and the lowest airfares in the region,” said airport CEO Candace McGraw. “We’ve been successful in adding new nonstop destinations, as well as working with air cargo partners to establish and grow their operations, all of which grow the airport community and positively impact the local economy.”

CVG Board Chairman J. Michael Schlotman explained the record-breaking results are happening in year four of a five-year strategic plan.

“I congratulate the entire CVG team on the tremendous successes in 2018. Our mission statement says, ‘we want CVG to be the airport of choice to work for, fly from, and to do business with,’ and these results clearly indicate we are delivering,” said Schlotman.