Speaking at a press conference Dec. 14, Appleton International Airport Director Abe Weber and Outagamie County Executive Thomas Nelson announced a successful year for the state’s third-busiest airport (Milwaukee’s Mitchell Field, Madison’s Dane County Regional) and predicted a strong future.
The growth has led to Appleton International Airport being reclassified to a small-hub airport, which places it in a separate funding category.
It is expected that more than 850,000 passengers will have used ATW by year’s end, up from 720,083 in 2021. Weber says the increase has been a balance of business and leisure travel, though leisure has led the way. He says customers are driving from Upper Michigan and Central Wisconsin to utilize ATW’s services.
Weber says ATW’s airline partners started four new nonstop flights this year, increasing the total nonstop destinations available from the airport to 15.
“We also completed and commenced close to $40 million in infrastructure and facility improvements to Appleton Airport this year,” Weber said.
Major infrastructure improvements to the grounds and facilities were funded primarily through government grants. Of the $40 million investment, 84% of projects started in 2022 were funded by federal grants, 7% by state grants, and 9% by the airport.
Projects initiated in 2022 include initiatives designed to manage the increase in passenger air traffic at both the commercial airport and the private flight center, including a major expansion of the concrete ramp used for planes landing and taxing, as well as construction of a general aviation hangar at the Appleton Flight Center, a facility used by private aircraft.
In addition, Gulfstream has started work on a 73,000-square-foot paint hangar that is expected to be completed in 2023.
Nelson described the airport as the “crown jewel” of Outagamie County’s service offerings. He said the facility has a strong reputation for a quality passenger experience, and strong airports are key to attracting tourism, talent and business to the region.
“Since I’ve been county executive, we have well over doubled the economic impact of this airport,” he said. “Now we support 3,000 jobs directly and indirectly in Outagamie County and the region.”
Nelson also made a prediction at the event: that ATW will reach a total economic impact of $1 billion in the next two years. Weber says the numbers support Nelson’s optimism.
“The last time we conducted an economic impact study it was around $600 million, and we think it’s only going to go up,” Weber explained. “We think it can get over the top of $1 billion.”
