The Pueblo Memorial Airport reached a milestone in 2018 that will qualify it for grant funding that can be used next year to make improvements to its infrastructure.

Passenger traffic at the airport continued to show growth last year, as more than 10,000 passengers boarded United Airlines flights in Pueblo that were bound for destinations across the world, according to information provided by Ian Turner, the director of aviation for the airport. It's the first time the airport has surpassed the 10,000 passenger mark since 2012.

Reaching 10,000 passenger trips qualifies the airport for a $1 million entitlement grant under the Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program.

That funding can be used for infrastructure projects at the airport such as pavement, airfield upgrades and safety-related initiatives. The funding will be made available in 2020.

"Reaching this milestone is a tremendous achievement for Pueblo," City Manager Sam Azad said in a statement. "The investments we have made in advertising, facilities and infrastructure under the leadership of our aviation director are paying off and we expect this growth to continue in 2019."

Turner said the record-breaking passengers 2018 saw can be attributed to the airport's airline partner, SkyWest Airlines, as well as a ramp-up in advertising.

"The City Council in partnership with the county has made investments in advertising our services at the airport and I think that's made a big difference," Turner said on Friday. "The last two years have been pretty much the same level of advertising for us, but it's been more than has occurred in the last decade."

Turner said the airport hopes to eclipse 2018's passenger numbers this year.

"I think this passenger growth trend is going to continue," he said. "You see that across the country, and as more people find out how solid of a service we have now —that growth — I think is going to continue. And in talking to the airline we're already seeing better booking numbers for the first couple of months of 2019 compared to 2018."

United Airlines offers one-stop service to 440 destinations through Denver International Airport. Flights are offered twice per day on weekdays and once a day on weekends.

Service is provided by United Airlines partner SkyWest Airlines.

Prices, flight times and booking is available at www.united.com.

rseverance@chieftain.com