Sea-Tac airport set to break its passenger traffic record

TACOMA — The Sea-Tac Airport’s third-quarter figures show that the airport is on track to set a new record for the number of passengers it handles in a year.

The News Tribune reports that passenger traffic at Sea-Tac through the end of September was 13 percent higher than record numbers in 2014’s first three quarters.

At the current rate, Sea-Tac could see more than 42 million travelers pass through the airport by the end of the year. The airport handled 37.5 million passengers in 2014.

The increase can be attributed to the airport’s busiest airlines, Alaska and Delta, which have been adding new nonstop destinations from the airport.

To keep up with the influx of new passengers, the airport is planning $1.9 billion in upgrades in the next five years.