Airport Plans Big Increase In Flights For Spring Breakers

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet. Photo by Tomás Del Coro, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport will see a surge of nonstop flights in March being offered from Milwaukee to vacation destinations.

In order to meet demand for spring break travel, Milwaukee Mitchell will offer 36 departures — approximately 5,700 seats — to warm weather destinations every Saturday in March.

“MKE’s airline partners are offering so many incredible nonstop spring break destinations this year, the hardest part of booking your trip is deciding where you want to go,” Airport Director Brian Dranzik said in a statement.

The airport is expecting there to be approximately 19% more departing flights this March compared to last year. Many of the nonstop flights will be headed for Florida. There will be 26 flights flying to one of five Florida destinations each Saturday next month.

Multiple direct flights to Cancun, Mexico and Phoenix will also be available to Milwaukee travelers during the peak travel Saturdays.

Southwest Airlines is offering the bulk of the flights headed for spring break destinations. Apple Vacations and Funjet Vacations are offering nonstop flights to a number of international destinations, including the Mexican cities of Cabo San Lucas, Cancun and Puerto Vallarta as well as Montego Bay, Jamaica and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

March is regularly among the busiest months for travel out of Milwaukee Mitchell. Growing demand for leisure air travel has driven Milwaukee Mitchell’s air traffic to rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic. Air traffic was decimated in 2020, and last year was the first time passenger traffic came close to pre-pandemic numbers. In 2023, the airport was approximately 800,000 passengers shy of the 6.8 million passengers that traversed its gates in 2019.