ALBANY — Travelers are slowly returning to air travel at the upstate region’s two largest airports as the spread of the coronavirus contagion has slowed, according to representatives of Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Albany International Airport.

In April, a few weeks after the pandemic reached New York, air traffic at those two airports had plummeted by an estimated 95%.

Doug Myers, spokesman for Albany International, said daily passenger levels have rebounded to about 25% of normal levels and are expected to continue to rise in the months to come.

At the Buffalo facility, the upstate region’s busiest airport, the number of flights are a fraction of what they normally are. But it is also experiencing a gradual increase in people booking flights.

Helen Tederous, spokeswoman for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, estimated the number of passengers using the airport each day is now at about 15% of pre-pandemic levels. A second, smaller airport overseen by the authority, Niagara Falls International Airport, is on a similar trajectory, and is now seeing a slow rise in travelers, she said.

But the airports in New York and indeed across the nation have a long way to go to get back to the usage they enjoyed in 2019.

Steve Malum, an internet marketer who lives in Cooperstown, said he has shelved all plans to use the airlines for travel, even for cross-country trips, pointing out he remains concerned about health risks.

“If I go out to visit my sons, who live in Wyoming and Colorado, I’ll drive,” Malum told CNHI. “Part of the reason is I like to drive. But another part of the reason is I see so much congestion at an airport. going through the TSA checkpoint and waiting at the gate, and then getting into the airplane. For the foreseeable future, I will avoid most congested areas.”

The airlines have responded to the public health crisis by imposing some of the most dramatic revisions in passenger protocols since the changes initiated after terrorists hijacked four passenger jets on Sept. 11, 2001, two of which were flown into Manhattan skyscrapers and a third that rammed the Pentagon.

The nation’s airline company serving the greatest number of passengers, American Airlines, in an announcement released for the showcasing Wednesday of a major expansion of LaGuardia Airport in New York City, said it plans to fly 55% of its domestic schedule in July compared to the same period last year.

American pointed out its passengers are required to wear face coverings.

“American has implemented a multi-layered strategy to give customers more confidence and peace of mind when traveling — ensuring customers have a clean experience at airports and onboard aircraft,” the company said.

Meanwhile, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are advising people to avoid travel in order to keep the spread of coronavirus in check.

“Social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others, sometimes for hours. This may increase your risk for exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19,” the CDC said in its travel guidance.

But the latest statics from the Transportation Security Administration, released this week, show more than 430,000 people went through airport check points Monday, a jump of more than 400% over the lowest point in April.

In Albany, Myers said there are indications the trend of increased flying will continue, “People are coming back to the office so there is more business travels,” Myers said. “There is pent-up demand for vacation travel and for families wanting to go visit relatives.”

He said some projections suggest it may take until 2024 for the airlines to catch up with all the traffic they had before the pandemic jolted the travel industry.

Approximately 1,000 passengers per day are expected to go through the Albany terminal next week, down from the usual level of between 4,100 and 5,000 people, he said.

The number of flights is running at about 15 each day, down from approximately 50 per day before the health emergency, he noted.

“They have sized the number of flights to meet customer demand and as that demand increases they will add more flights,” Myers said.

At NFTA headquarters, Tederous said the Buffalo and Niagara Falls airports have also experienced fallout from the closure of crossings at the U.S./Canada border.

The border crossings had been expected to resume June 22, but Reuters reported this week the restrictions are set to be restricted into next month.

“This has a tremendous impact on both the Buffalo and the Niagara airports,” Tederous said of the border restrictions.

The restrictions have also been felt by businesses in New York’s North Country, where the tourism industry has long been popular with guests from Canada.

Plattsburgh is just 62 miles from Montreal, Canada’s second-largest city.