Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) Statistics

Missoula Montana Airport (MSO) serves western Montana, and recorded more than 1 million total passengers in 2025. It operates as one of Montana’s small hub commercial service airports.

MSO recorded 511,553 official passenger boardings in 2024.

• From 2014 through 2018, passenger boardings rose from 334,948 to 425,563, a 27.1% gain.
• The pre-pandemic peak came in 2019, when MSO reached 453,754 passenger boardings.
• The pandemic drop was severe, with boardings falling to 209,035 in 2020, down 53.9% from 2019.
• The recovery moved quickly after that, reaching 384,925 boardings in 2021 and 425,093 in 2022.
• MSO then surpassed its pre-pandemic level, rising to 458,429 boardings in 2023 and 511,553 in 2024.

Note: Passenger boardings count departing passengers only. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) annual series used here is available through 2024; the later monthly peak-travel section uses 2025 total passengers from The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) data.

MSO recorded 45,746 tower aircraft operations in fiscal 2025.

• Total tower aircraft operations were 37,801 in fiscal 2020, then rose to 46,072 in fiscal 2021.
• Tower operations stayed elevated at 45,289 in fiscal 2022, before easing to 41,468 in fiscal 2023.
• MSO logged 44,465 tower operations in fiscal 2024 and 45,746 in fiscal 2025.
• Fiscal 2025 operations were up 2.9% from fiscal 2024.
• Compared with fiscal 2020, MSO handled 21% more tower aircraft operations by fiscal 2025.

Note: Tower aircraft operations count total operations handled by the airport tower.

Denver International Airport was MSO’s busiest listed domestic destination for March 2025 through February 2026, with 129,910 passengers.

• Seattle/Tacoma International Airport ranked second with 97,630 passengers.
• Salt Lake City International Airport followed with 76,100 passengers.
• Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport handled 55,660 passengers.
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport rounded out the top five with 42,850 passengers.
• Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Portland International Airport were the next largest listed markets, with 36,640 and 34,100 passengers, respectively.

Note: Destination figures are U.S.-only passengers in thousands from the BTS T-100 Domestic Market series.

MSO generated $15.73 million in operating revenue in fiscal 2025.

• Operating revenue was $7.69 million in fiscal 2021, then climbed to $10.24 million in fiscal 2022.
• Revenue continued rising to $11.75 million in fiscal 2023 and $12.46 million in fiscal 2024.
• Fiscal 2025 marked the strongest year in the available official series, with operating revenue up 26.3% from fiscal 2024.
• Compared with fiscal 2021, operating revenue more than doubled by fiscal 2025.

Note: Fiscal years end on June 30.

MSO’s East Concourse project was budgeted at approximately $59 million and designed to add 4 boarding gates.

• Phase 1, the South Concourse, opened in June 2022 as the official opening of the airport’s new facility.
• Phase 1 added a new and expanded ticketing, screening, and boarding experience.
• Phase 2/3 was planned to expand baggage claim, rental car counters, concessions, and passenger gates.
• The East Concourse project includes 4 additional boarding gates, a permanent baggage claim area, and space for rental car operations.
• As of June 30, 2025, about $6.4 million remained on the East Concourse budget.

The two verified National Transportation Safety Board cases supported here involve general aviation aircraft, not scheduled airline service.

• On 5 December 2016, a Piper PA-31T made an emergency landing at MSO after a left windshield fracture and separation; the 2 people aboard were not injured.
• On 1 July 2021, a Cessna 172R was involved in a fatal accident near MSO; the pilot and passenger were fatally injured.