Fitch Ratings boosted the outlook on Fresno, California's senior lien general airport revenue bonds to positive from stable and affirmed the credit at BBB-plus.
The rating affects $17.5 million in revenue bonds issued for Fresno Yosemite International Airport. In addition to those bonds, the airport has $106.6 million of outstanding parity bonds that Fitch does not rate.
The positive outlook reflects the airport's "continued enplanement outperformance in comparison to the Fitch base case, causing financial metrics to approach the positive rating sensitivity," Fitch wrote.
An upgrade will be contingent upon continued strong financial performance leading to year-five leverage below two times, Fitch said.
The combination of the airport's small market in central California's San Joaquin Valley and revenue volatility were countered by enplanement growth and strength in the local Fresno economy, Fitch said of the BBB-plus rating.
"The airport serves a small, yet captive, 100% origin and destination passenger market of over 1.3 million enplanements, which is dominated by agriculture," Fitch said. "Enplanements have increased well above pre-pandemic levels, reflective of a quickly growing market base and a lack of competition in the region."
The airport also benefits from airline carrier diversity, with no airline holding more than a 30% market share.
The airport expects to complete its terminal expansion project in December, which Fitch said is likely to further bolster operating revenues, driving a continued deleveraging following the temporary uptick for the project.
The current $312 million, five-year capital improvement plan through 2030 includes two major projects: runway reconstruction and terminal expansion.
In September 2025, the airport received $30 million in FAA grant funding to initiate Phase I of the $100 million runway reconstruction and $26 million in FAA grant funding for the terminal expansion.
The capex program is predominantly financed with federal grants, excess cash and proceeds from prior bond issuances, Fitch said, adding, when the current slate of expansion projects are completed, the airport will have a capital program with less reliance on additional borrowing.
No further debt is anticipated in the near term with the terminal expansion nearing completion, Fitch said.
The airport's revenue bonds carry underlying ratings of A from S&P Global Ratings and A-plus from KBRA, according to its
