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Milwaukee County: April passenger numbers soar to 20th straight record month; Mitchell International jumps up 11 places in national passenger ranking
6/3/2011

Contact: Jeff Bentoff

414.278.5281

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele today announced that April was the 20th straight month of record passenger numbers at General Mitchell International Airport. The total of 844,453 passengers is a 1.42% increase over April 2010. Airport Council International’s newly released final passenger rankings for 2010 show that Mitchell jumped up 11 places, making it the 34th largest U.S. airport, surpassing airports such as Cleveland; Raleigh-Durham; Nashville; Sacramento; Austin; San Jose and Pittsburgh.

"The economies of Milwaukee County and southeastern Wisconsin benefit from this remarkable growth curve that began in fall 2009," Abele said. "Strong nonstop service with fares among the nation’s lowest draws business, conventions and vacationers to our beautiful community. That brings in revenue, and revenue in turn supports and creates jobs for Milwaukee County and area residents."

Airport Director Barry Bateman said, "Our Wisconsin and northern Illinois customer base grows each month as passengers discover that Milwaukee is the lowest-fare airport in the region."

Market Data: U.S. Department of Transportation data for 4th Quarter 2010 (most recent) show that the average airfare out of Milwaukee dropped lower than the average at 93 other U.S. airports. Mitchell’s average fare was $98 less than O’Hare’s, $78 less than the nation’s average and $16 less than Midway’s.

Mitchell ranked among the top 30 fastest-growing airports in the world in 2010, according to Airports Council International.

With 56 markets, Mitchell has moved up to 28th among U.S. airports in number of markets served nonstop, according to data published by the Brookings Institute. The ranking means that more nonstop markets are served out of Milwaukee than out of other Midwestern cities, such as Kansas City; Nashville; Pittsburgh; Indianapolis and Columbus, and out of medium-sized cities elsewhere in the U.S., including Portland, OR; Austin; New Orleans; San Diego; Raleigh/Durham; Albuquerque; San Antonio and Hartford, CT.

General Mitchell International Airport is owned by Milwaukee County and operated by the Department of Transportation & Public Works, Airport Division, under the policy direction of the Milwaukee County Executive and the County Board of Supervisors. The airport is entirely funded by user fees; no property tax dollars are used for the airport’s capital improvements or for its day-to-day operation. For more information on Mitchell International, visit http://www.mitchellairport.com.


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