Passenger traffic at Northwest Arkansas National Airport has already surpassed last year’s total, marking another record-breaking year for the region’s airport.

Airport officials said Tuesday that XNA reached 1,161,934 passengers by the end of November, surpassing last year’s full-year record of 1,144,820.

Airlines investing in Northwest Arkansas

While XNA’s recent investments in terminal modernization, parking and expanded in-terminal amenities have improved the travel experience, airline service expansions have driven the airport’s passenger growth.

The most recent service investments by the airlines kicked off late last year when Delta Air Lines started flying nonstop to Detroit, and Delta followed that up in February 2025 with a new nonstop to Salt Lake City.

American Airlines wasn’t to be outdone, and it launched a daily nonstop from XNA to Philadelphia in December 2024.

Those new nonstop routes added about 210 seats per day from the Northwest Arkansas market, giving passengers more options for direct travel or connections through those cities.

But those 210 seats are only a portion of the 2025 growth. In all, XNA is seeing 472 additional seats available for purchase each day this year compared to 2024, an XNA consultant’s data shows.

More growth in early 2026

The same consultant’s research indicates airlines will keep investing into more XNA service in the coming months, too. Federal data shows the airlines expect to provide 5.1% more seats during 2026’s four months compared to 2025’s early-year offerings.

That 5.1% increase includes American’s addition of a third daily flight to Phoenix and a third one to New York LaGuardia, starting in January. It also includes a second daily trip on American to Philadelphia, starting in early April.

As for November of this year, 101,800 passengers boarded flights, stretching the airport’s streak of at least 100,000 passengers to seven months.

XNA has topped the 100,000 mark just 13 times in its history, and all of those instances have come in the past 18 months. Its best month was July of this year when 123,993 people boarded planes.

More revenue

Growing the number of passengers leaving from XNA provides benefits to the airport and the region as a whole.

For the airport, every passenger brings an additional $4.50 in a passenger facility charge that’s wrapped up in airfare, and the airlines pass that money on to XNA. The airport also receives other revenue from parking fees, rental car taxes, airlines that lease space in the terminal and in-terminal purchases made by passengers.

For the region, sustained passenger growth at XNA strengthens the case for additional airline service and new nonstop destinations in the future.