Indianapolis airport serves 10 millionth passenger during Big Ten weekend

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Indianapolis International Airport says it had a “record-breaking year” during 2024, and earlier this month, it added one more major achievement to that list.

The airport on Monday announced it served its 10 millionth passenger of 2024 during Big Ten weekend.

This passenger milestone is one of many achievements the airport celebrated this year. Airport officials say they served 5.2 million flyers during 2024’s first lineup of major events, including the NBA All-Star game, spring break travel, the total solar eclipse, the Indy 500, and Memorial Day weekend.

Busy summer travel spurned by the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials, the Brickyard 400, and many other conventions brought in another 2 million passengers through IND. The month of August alone brought in over 824,000 flyers, making it the airport’s busiest August to date.

Fall break travel was disrupted by Hurricane Milton, the airport says, but traffic returned full force with Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in early November.

Thanksgiving travel preceded the Big Ten, and with the rush of sports fans came the airport’s 10 millionth milestone.

Mario Rodriguez, executive director of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, said the airport knew it would end the year with a bang. “We knew we were going to finish strong in 2024, and it’s only fitting we marked our 10 million passenger milestone shortly after welcoming travelers for the Big Ten,” he said.