It took nearly three years for national air travel to rebound from COVID-19, and some airports — notably Portland — are still reporting passenger volumes far below pre-pandemic numbers.

Oregon’s regional airports have fared much, much better. It only took about 15 months for Redmond, Eugene and Medford to return to 2019 travel numbers. And though Medford has faded since then, Redmond and Eugene are soaring.

The Redmond Municipal Airport, Roberts Field, which also serves the booming market in neighboring Bend, reports that passenger volumes were up 17% so far this year compared to 2019. Passengers flying through Eugene are up 44% from before the pandemic.

New carriers are a big reason why. In 2021, Eugene added Southwest Airlines and the new budget carrier Avelo Airlines. Eugene also has some popular new routes, including Dallas-Forth Worth and California destinations San Diego, San Jose and Burbank.

More destinations mean people don’t have to drive to Portland to catch a flight, according to Andrew Martz, assistant director at the Eugene Airport.

“All our gates are full every night, so we’re running out of places to park planes,” Martz said. Eugene is building five new pads to support aircraft overnight, due to be ready by fall.

Yet airlines continue to face shortages of planes and pilots, a chronic issue that has plagued the airline industry’s pandemic recovery and had a particular impact in smaller metro airports like Portland, where passenger volumes remain 18% below 2019 levels.

“Our forecasts are for continued growth,” Martz said. “I would be surprised if it’s at the same magnitude. It’s pretty hard to sustain that.”

Airlines will go where the people are, and more and more of them are in the Bend area. Population growth and tourism are the big drivers behind the uptick in people flying through nearby Redmond.

“As Central Oregon has grown, we’ve received more destinations, larger aircraft,” said airport director Zachary Bass. People who used to drive to Portland for their flights can now more frequently reach their destination with direct flights from Redmond.

The situation in southern Oregon is a little more complicated. Passenger volumes at the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport recovered from the pandemic just as quickly as in Eugene and Redmond but then began a steady decline about a year ago.

Passenger volumes in Medford are down about 12% this year compared to 2019.

“Commercial airline pilots are still in short supply,” airport director Amber Judd wrote in an email. “Many airlines cut back service to rural destinations.”

For regional airports, Judd cautioned that a shortage of aircraft could become a bigger issue next year — which could impact flights in and out of Medford through 2024.

“Airlines are facing this now and are actively making changes to their networks to better match supply and demand,” Judd said.

In the long run, though, she said Medford expects the airlines and flights will return.

“The passenger demand is there — and we expect to continue to grow quickly once the aircraft/pilot shortages are resolved,” Judd said.

“As Central Oregon has grown, we’ve received more destinations, larger aircraft.”

Zachary Bass, Redmong airport director