Seattle Tacoma facing constraints: more than 60 million ppa projected

Seattle Tacoma International airport has posted significant passenger growth during the past few years, driven mostly by Delta's decision to develop Seattle as its long haul springboard from the US West Coast. As Delta has grown, the airport's dominant airline - Alaska Air Group - has asserted its position with its own expansion from its largest hub.

The build-up by both Alaska and Delta has obviously resulted in more options for passengers travelling through Seattle Tacoma International, but that growth has also resulted in Seattle facing constraints, particularly in handling international passengers.

The airport has a raft of a construction projects under way, including a new high profile international arrivals facility scheduled to open in 2020. Structural expansion is no doubt crucial for Seattle as it continues to march towards reaching its passenger capacity thresholds but the airport's physical footprint is limited, which means local governments will need to give serious consideration for a second airport in the region at some point in the future.

Everett's Paine Field is gearing up for the start of commercial services in Feb-2018 but with just two gates, the facility will play a small role as a reliever airport for Seattle Tacoma.