Asheville Regional Airport Served 2.24 Million Passengers in 2025

Asheville Regional Airport logged 2,240,877 passengers in 2025, its second-busiest year on record, according to the airport authority's annual report released in mid-March. The total fell only about 5,500 short of the airport's all-time high of 2,246,411, set in 2023, a gap made all the more striking given that October 2024 passenger traffic plunged roughly 53% compared to the prior year after Hurricane Helene swept through Western North Carolina in September.

Lew Bleiweis, the airport's president and CEO, called the 2025 ridership numbers a "tremendous accomplishment." "The region has moved forward with resilience and so has its airport," Bleiweis said in a statement. "This performance reflects the strength of our community's support, the confidence of our airline partners, and the region's continued appeal as both a destination and a place to live and work."

The recovery came after one of the airport's most disruptive periods. When Helene struck in September 2024, AVL pivoted from commercial operations, becoming a military and logistics hub to support regional relief efforts. Tourism to the region collapsed in the storm's immediate aftermath, pulling down what had otherwise been a strong year for passenger numbers.

The 2025 figures land against a backdrop of rapid physical transformation at the Fletcher facility. AVL opened its new 136,000-square-foot North Concourse last summer, with floor-to-ceiling windows, new food and retail options, and an art gallery featuring works by artists displaced by Hurricane Helene. The old terminal was demolished late last year, and a new South Concourse is expected to open by the end of 2027.

The airport's growth trajectory dates to 2023, when AVL crossed the 2 million passenger threshold for the first time in its history. That year, the airport recorded 226,839 passengers in June, its first month ever surpassing 200,000, then set a new monthly record of 244,504 in July. Five consecutive months that year exceeded 200,000 passengers, a streak that kept AVL on national lists of the fastest-growing airports.

The 2025 annual report was accompanied by a financial audit for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025, performed by Martin Starnes & Associates, CPAs, P.A. Chief Financial Officer Amy Harris presented the findings to Airport Authority members in an October 17, 2025, memorandum, noting that the draft audited financial statements would be submitted to the Local Government Commission. The Asheville Regional Airport Authority, established in 1980 under a joint agreement between Buncombe County and the City of Asheville, operates the airport from its offices at 61 Terminal Drive in Fletcher.