Appleton Airport saw a 23 percent increase in travelers compared to March of 2020. As northeast Wisconsin travelers begin to reclaim a sense of normalcy after one full year of pandemic restrictions, this growth is seen as a promising start to the year ahead for travel.
With March typically one of the airport’s busiest months in a non-pandemic year, the airport was thrilled to see over 57,000 travelers passing through its terminals this past month as travelers headed for warm, sunny destinations during Spring Break 2021 - a number comparable to pre-COVID passenger counts.
In addition, all four airlines reported double-digit passenger increases, compared to March 2020; American Airlines posted a 107 percent increase. American added a daily flight to Charlotte, NC, in November 2020, and offers easy one-stop connections to Florida and Caribbean destinations.
“We’re seeing strong, pent-up travel demand for all our destinations,” said Abe Weber, Appleton Airport director, “Interest in travel to Florida was especially high this past month due to Allegiant offering six flights a week to Orlando. Seeing all the families and small children return to travel is really fun for our staff.”
Looking forward, Appleton is proud to be the only Wisconsin airport to increase flights this spring, as compared to the airline industry’s peak year of 2019. In May for example, Appleton shows a 3.2 percent flight increase.
In addition to its growth among Wisconsin-based airports, Boyd Group International, a leading aviation forecasting firm, has forecast Appleton as one of its Top 12 fastest growing airports for 2021, the only Midwest airport to make the list. Weber believes that Appleton’s manufacturing base of essential industries, and the resulting full employment of the region, has kept people traveling throughout the pandemic. “We are lucky to serve a community that values its employees and businesses.”
