It’s one of those things that’s a good “extra” indicator to Metro Detroit’s economy. In 2015, there were over more passengers (926,557) who began or ended their trips at Detroit Metropolitan Airport last year compared to 2014 according to info that the Wayne County Airport Authority released this month.
That’s a 2.8 percent increase over 2014. Some of the growth came from new routes.
New routes in 2015 included:
- Alaska Airlines to Seattle
- Frontier Airlines to Orlando, Fla.
- JetBlue to Boston and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
- Spirit Airlines to Boston, New Orleans, Kansas City, Mo., Minneapolis and Atlanta
- Virgin Atlantic to London Heathrow
However, Delta Airlines is still by far the biggest player at DTW, at about 78% of the flights.
In 2016, it’s expected that:
- Delta will begin flying to Munich
- Frontier Airlines will start service to Fort Myers, Fla., and Phoenix.
- Iceland Air charter service will begin to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic; Puerto Vallarta and Cancun, Mexico.
- Spirit Airlines to Philadelphia and Baltimore.
- Southwest Airlines connection to Orlando.
Information from the International Air Transport Association shows the airport is a full percentage point ahead of the rest of the country with a 9-percent increase in travelers starting or ending their trip at Metro Airport.
“The second half of 2015 came in very strong, with solid month-over-month increases,” WCAA CEO Thomas Naughton said in a statement. “A very encouraging sign for our regional economy is growth in the number of customers who are beginning or ending their trip in Detroit.”