Mitchell airport passenger traffic rising from 2017 figures

Passenger traffic at Mitchell International Airport rose 3 percent during the first half of 2018, compared with the previous year, according to numbers released Thursday by the airport.

A total of 3,573,730 passengers passed through Mitchell in the first half of 2018, compared with 3,469,425 during the same period in 2017, an increase of 3.01 percent.

“February 2018 broke a record for local passengers using MKE, surpassing the previous February peak in 2010 by more than two percent,” County Executive Chris Abele said in a statement announcing the numbers.

“It’s great for our community that more people are using MKE for their air travel.”

MKE is the International Air Transport Association symbol for Mitchell.

Local passenger statistics include all passengers except those transferring between flights.

“MKE offers more nonstop destinations and lower average fares than any airport in Wisconsin,” Airport Director Brian Dranzik said in the statement. “Our continued strong passenger growth shows that more people are taking advantage of the wide variety of airlines, flights and competitive fares.”

Across all of MKE’s routes, airlines have filled 81 percent of their seats at MKE so far this year, up from 79 percent during the same period in 2017.

Mitchell offers nonstop flights to 48 destinations coast-to-coast, and 160 international destinations are available from Milwaukee with just one connection.

The airport is served by Air Canada, Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, Frontier, OneJet, Southwest, United and Volaris.

Mitchell is owned and operated by Milwaukee County. The airport is entirely funded by user fees; no property tax dollars are used for the airport’s capital improvements or for its day-today operation.