Kentucky’s airports remain key economic generator for the state

Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) and Bowman Field (LOU) generated a record breaking $12.8 billion in economic output for the region and state in 2024, according to the most recent economic impact study.

The total ensures that Louisville Regional Airport Authority continues to maintain its status as key economic driver for aviation in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

This also includes nearly 90,000 direct and indirect jobs with $551.1 million in state and local tax revenues.

“SDF and Bowman Field serve as the leaders in aviation for our state,” said Dan Mann, executive director of the Louisville Regional Airport Authority.

“Our airports drive economic success through business development and aviation-related activity while also connecting people and products around the globe.”

The airport authority continues to fuel employment in the region with 89,357 direct and indirect jobs, equalling to 1 in 8 jobs in the Louisville Metro area because of operations at SDF and Bowman Field.

This also led to significant tax revenues of more than $414 million for the Commonwealth combined with $137 million for local governments or $1 in every $6 in Louisville Metro tax revenue.

“Louisville’s airports are an essential part of Kentucky’s success, impacting everything from our red-hot economy to our record-breaking tourism industry while also providing good jobs for Kentuckians,” said Kentucky governor Andy Beshear.

“The nearly $13 billion in economic output and 90,000 jobs supported in 2024 are an amazing boost for our commonwealth. I want to congratulate the teams at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport and Bowman Field on another great year.”

While Louisville mayor, Craig Greenberg, noted: “This economic impact study proves what we’ve known for decades – that Louisville’s airports are significant drivers for economic development in our city, our region and our commonwealth.

“Whether it’s helping transport millions of travellers or billions of pounds of cargo, our airports deliver for people here in Kentucky, across the country and around the world.”

The success of the two airports is directly connected to the success of its business partners, the largest of which is UPS. SDF is the proud home of UPS Worldport, site of the world’s biggest automated packaging facility and the center point of their global air network.

Last year, the airport’s runways saw more than 6.9 billion pounds of cargo takeoff and land, ranking SDF as the third busiest cargo airport in North America and fifth in the world according to ACI) World.

“The Louisville Regional Airport Authority has played a key role in our region’s success,” said Bill Moore, president of UPS Airlines.

“UPS Worldport is the centre of our global air network, and businesses benefit from our strategic location, global reach and partnership with the airport.”

This is the first economic and fiscal impact assessment for the airport authority following the global pandemic. This report, which was completed by Meench & Shanker, LLC, shows the overall economic output increased by 23% compared to the previous report that analysed data for calendar year 2018 – the same year Dan Mann was named executive director for the airport authority.

It also shows state and local tax revenues increased by more than 21% and jobs grew by 8%. The study assessed the sum of business activities directly related to operations at both airports and the spending of visitors for calendar year 2024 to determine the total contribution of all aviation-related economic activity.

Additional activity is included that is only made possible by the presence of civil aviation in Louisville.

“Today we are celebrating further confirmation that both SDF and Bowman Field are fostering aviation in our state,” added Mann. “We look forward to continuing the positive momentum of our airports while pushing business forward and powering the regional economy.”