MASON CITY — The Mason City Municipal Airport saw its highest amount of air service for the period of the first three months of the year in over a decade.
In the month of March alone, there were a total of 1667 enplanements and deplanements, giving the airport its highest March traffic number since 2012. It’s also the highest first quarter numbers for the airport since 2012.
City Administrator Aaron Burnett says the 82% increase this March compared to March 2024 is a fantastic number to see. “I think this is really a testament to the decoupling where we have a direct flight to Chicago from the airport. I think the times are continuing to improve so that we get better connecting flights through O’Hare. Additionally, one of the things I would state is that the airport is doing a fantastic job of highlighting the savings that can occur through using that airport, free parking, etc.”
Burnett also credits the opening of the new terminal to the airport’s success.
Burnett was asked about the potential to add service to other destinations in the future. He says there’s been interest by some regular passengers to have a connection through Denver for those traveling west, but he says conversations with SkyWest on adding such a flight haven’t happened in a while. “Currently, there’s no conversation that I’m aware of to add that link in. I think that will continue to be a conversation, but at this point, there’s no change in that. The real desire from talking with Airport Manager David Sims is the desire to continue to push that early flight that is currently, I think it’s currently a 10 o’clock flight, to move that up, so there’s more connecting options for those flying out of Mason City.”
Burnett made his comments at this past week’s meeting of the Mason City City Council.
