OUTAGAMIE COUNTY (NBC 26) — Appleton International Airport leaders say March 2024 was the airport's busiest month ever with 100,800 total passengers.
ATW leaders say the airport also broke all travel records in 2023 with 967,687 total arrivals and departures. That's a 14.27% increase over the course of the entire year making ATW the fastest-growing airport in Wisconsin, according to the TSA.
ATW officials are crediting the passenger growth due to the increasing number of nonstop flights as well as a busy spring break.
“It’s clear more and more travelers are choosing to fly through Appleton,” Airport Director Abe Weber said in a news release. “Our airline partners continue to add seats through ATW, and our community continues to respond by choosing our airport over other options."
The airport added a nonstop flight to Portland, Ore. in 2023 and nonstop routes to New York and Dallas in 2024. ATW has a total of 18 nonstop flights.
“We anticipate the increase in nonstop destinations and our planned terminal expansion will help us top the one-million mark in arriving and departing passengers in 2024,” Weber said.
A massive, 47,000 square foot expansion project is also underway at ATW that will nearly double the airport's size. The project costs $66 million.