News File Photo The Alpena County Regional Airport.

ALPENA – The number of people utilizing the Alpena County Regional Airport for travel continues to be strong and the airport has already had enough paying passengers to earn its $1 million subsidy from the federal government.

According to Airport Manager Ed Higgins, there were 1,119 enplanements at the airport last month. That is well above the 929 paying passengers the airport has in October of 2024.

At the end of last month, the airport had had a total of 1,1052 enplanements, which is more than the 9,430 the airport had for the same time period last year.

When the airport reaches its 10,000 enplanement goal, it becomes eligible for a $1 million subsidy from the federal government because it is considered an essential service airport. The money can be used for operations and improvements to the facility.