Columbia’s city council tackled Columbia Regional Airport’s (COU) master plan at Monday night’s work session.
The council discussed a 12-page report that says COU marked a milestone in October 2025 with an all-time high of more than 14,000 passenger enplanements. The report says the surge in traffic has been supported by substantial commitments from airline partners, including a 26 percent capacity increase from American Airlines and the reintroduction of daily United Airlines flights to Chicago and Denver.
The council voted last week to approve about $13-million in COU improvements, including a $1.8 million passenger boarding bridge project. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will reimburse the city for 90 percent of construction costs.
COU is the nation’s fastest-growing airport, according to aviation firm Mead and Hunt. Columbia businessman Matt Jenne, who serves on the city’s airport advisory board, predicts we’ll see a record July at COU. Mr. Jenne, who owns Addison’s and Sophia’s, told business leaders and elected officials at last week’s REDI board meeting that he’s expecting 30,000 people to fly out of Columbia Regional in July. That would be a record.