ROMULUS, Mich. (WXYZ) — Detroit Metro Airport saw a record number of passengers last year, according to data from the airport's department of financial planning and analysis.
According to DTW, there were 36,769,279 passengers in 2019, which is 4.3 percent higher than 2018's traffic. There was an increase in 1.5 million travelers, which the airport said is due to an increase in domestic passengers.
The airport said several domestic routes were added last year. Spirit began service to Austin, Texas; Delta added service to Bozeman, Montana; La Crosse, Wisconsin; Sacramento, California, Worcester, Massachusetts and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Frontier added service to Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; and Miami, Florida.
“Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport had a very successful year in 2019,” Wayne County Airport Authority CEO Chad Newton said in a release. “In one year, we’ve reached the highest number of total passengers, ranked highest in customer satisfaction according to the J.D. Power 2019 North America Airport Satisfaction Study, and earned top honors from Airports Council International as one of the best airports for customer service in the Airport Service Quality Survey. We will continue to work hard for our passengers who have put so much faith in us.”
They also said that the number of outbound passengers either visiting or living in Detroit contributed to the jump in passengers. There was an all-time high for those passengers up 6 percent.
“This is the fourth consecutive year of record O & D traffic,” WCAA Director of Air Service Development Joe Cambron said in a release. “Electrification and self-driving vehicle engineering job gains drove Detroit air traffic to new highs. Detroit’s economy is strong, and DTW offers many direct flights to more than 140 nonstop destinations, which allows us to service those traveling for leisure or business.”
The airport also talked about more additions in 2020 with Lufthansa beginning nonstop service to Munich, Germany in May and the completion of a $21 million food and beverage transformation in the north terminal.
