The number of people passing through Eagle County Regional Airport has gone down in recent years as tourism in the nearby town of Vail has increased.
Vail Daily reports the airport has experienced a 21 percent decline in passengers since 2011. During that same time, Vail has set several records for winter and summer sales tax collections.
Eagle County Aviation Director Greg Phillips attributed the decrease to several factors, including airlines switching to smaller planes and ticket cost.
Eagle County is also unlike most mountain resort airports that rely on public funding to finance revenue guarantees for airlines to create new routes. It uses contributions from local governments, Vail Resorts and other businesses.
Phillips says upgrades and an expansion of the airport's facilities are planned to build passenger numbers.
