The number of passengers flying out of the Rhinelander-Oneida County Airport is showing a sharp increase from one year ago.
Airport Director Joe Brauer says people are coming back after a low point during the Great Recession....
"....our passenger enplanements are up for the year. Our first six months was up 20 percent over the previous year. Kind of attribute that to stabilizing service here with Delta Airlines into its second year of service at our airport....."
Delta has connecting flights to the Minneapolis-St. Paul market. Brauer says an economy that is slowly improving accounts for a portion of the increase, but he says Mother Nature also is a factor...
"...it seems that people who normally take one trip a year to Florida or another warm weather area, because of the severe winter this year, they're taking a second or sometimes a third trip. It's of shorter duration, but they take that extra trip or two...."
Brauer says it is clear there are more business and leisure travelers flying out of Rhinelander.
