Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport Sees Passenger Growth In 2016

Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport saw passenger traffic rise more than 3 percent in 2016.

A county report released Tuesday shows the airport handled more than 6.7 million passengers last year, an increase of more than 200,000 over 2015.

Melissa Baldauff of the Milwaukee County Executive’s office said they’ve been marketing Mitchell Airport to travelers from northern Illinois as an alternative to the airports in Chicago.

She said the increase in passengers helps convince airlines to keep adding new routes in and out of Milwaukee.

“To prove to them that you come here and you start new service and we’re going to fill (the planes) up. We’re going to get people on those planes, traveling all around the country,” Baldauff said. “We’re seeing that with new routes from Alaska Airlines, Delta Airlines and Volaris, where we’re going to have nonstop service to Mexico launching this year.”

The passenger totals are the highest at the airport since 2012, when Milwaukee saw traffic decline following cutbacks in the airline industry.