Jan. 28--The Dane County Regional Airport in 2012 had its best year since 2004, according to data released by the airport.
Passenger traffic was up 6.7 percent when compared to 2011, marking the second-best year in airport history. In 2012, the airport recorded 810,953 passengers, behind the record year of 2004 when 847,341 passengers flew out of the airport, located on Madison's North Side.
Officials credit the boost to several service expansions that included flights to New York-LaGuardia; Cincinnati; Denver; Orlando, Fla.; and Washington, D.C. The service includes stops at 12 major hubs around the country. Most recently, the airport announced service increases to Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago on American Eagle, and on Monday it announced a new daily Delta flight to Salt Lake City.
"Our flights to these key hubs mean convenient one-stop service to worldwide destinations for south-central Wisconsin," said Bradley Livingston, the airport's director.
Summer travel hit an all-time high in 2012 with passenger records set in June (73,838 passengers), July (74,974) and August (79,784), according to the report.
"A strong year at the Dane County Regional Airport shows our investments there are paying off," Dane County Executive Joe Parisi said in a statement. "The expanded services coming to our airport help support a strong local economy and make Dane County look more attractive to businesses considering our area for new growth."
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