Funny how things work out. From the closure of the Sawyer Air Force Base more than a decade ago has sprung a new regional airport that just keeps getting busier.
Last year, Sawyer International Airport logged a passenger increase of better than 14 percent into and out of the airport, or about 132,000 passengers, according to a local news source. It was the airport's third consecutive annual increase.
Airport officials credit the increase to having service from three airlines and its location in the middle of the U.P., roughly 150 miles from either edge. A mild winter also caused comparatively fewer flight cancellations through the end of last year and bodes well for a good start to a fourth year of increases at the airport.
—Ronald A. Wirtz
