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ALPENA — November enplanement numbers at the Alpena County Regional Airport were up from last year, with only a couple flight cancellations due to complications at the Detroit Metro Airport, Alpena Airport Manager Mick Higgins said.

A total of 851 enplanements were counted last month, which is up from the 827 enplanements counted in November 2024.

The year to date enplanement total is 11,903, which is also an increase from 10,257 at this time last year.

Enplanements are the number of revenue passengers that board a flight, which includes transfer flights or original flights.

For the first few days of December, flights have been about three quarters full, Higgins said. He thinks that the increase in enplanements from last year will continue to the end of the year, when the count begins at zero again in January.

Higgins said this is the best trend the airport has seen in the last six years since they began recording enplanement data.

Due to reaching 10,000 enplanements in 2025, the airport is eligible to receive a $1 million subsidy which can be spent on maintenance, such as fixing runway surfaces, to keep the airport operational, Higgins said.

During the Thanksgiving snow storm, Higgins said that one flight was cancelled, due to complications at the Detroit Metro Airport, and not anything on Alpena’s end. Civilian, county, and Combat Readiness Training Center snow crews made a joint effort to clear the runway and keep everything working, he said.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.