Milwaukee Mitchell International airport expands holiday escapes to warmer climes

Situated on the shore of Lake Michigan, the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a rather unforgiving place at this time of year for those of us who aren't keen on cold winter weather.

Luckily, however, the city's Mitchell International Airport (MKE) is expanding its route offering on winter sun corridors, allowing passengers from the local area to have more choice when it comes to warm-weather Christmas getaways.

As detailed in a statement released by Mitchell International Airport earlier this week, the facility is looking to "[give] Milwaukee travelers even more reason to fly this holiday season" with its increased winter sun offering.

Among the destinations set to see extra coverage in this regard, as the airport prepares to handle more than 250,000 passengers in the last part of the year, is Miami International Airport (MIA).

At present, data made available by Cirium, an aviation analytics company, shows that American Airlines connects Milwaukee with Miami on a weekly basis, with a return trip flown every Saturday.

These flights are operated by Republic Airways under the American Eagle regional brand, and make use of 76-seat Embraer E175 twinjets to do so. However, significant changes are afoot in the coming days.

Indeed, from December 20th, American Airlines will switch from a weekly rotation to a daily frequency on this route.

While the route will still be served by Embraer E175 regional jets from the American Eagle stable, the operator going forward will be Envoy Air instead of Republic Airways.

With warm weather being almost a certainty even in December, these flights will surely be a welcome relief to locals.

While Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport is served by a wide range of airlines, few have more of a significant seasonal presence on winter sun routes than Sun Country Airlines.

This December, the orange and blue liveried ultra-low-cost carrier is operating a grand total of 110 flights on winter sun routes to and from Milwaukee, offering collective totals of 20,460 seats and 24,505,872 available seat miles.

The airline's non-stop routes out of the Wisconsin facility this winter include domestic corridors to the likes of Florida (Fort Myers and Orlando) and Arizona (Phoenix).

Further afield, there are also international services to the Dominican Republic (Punta Cana) and Mexico (Cancun International Airport).

Like American's Miami flights, the frequencies tick up towards the middle and end of the month.

"Sun Country is proud of our growth in Wisconsin culminating in an exciting expansion of international service from Milwaukee this winter. For over 40 years, Sun Country has been connecting Upper Midwesterners with warm-weather destinations, and we are thrilled to offer additional options to our friends in Wisconsin." - Grant Whitney, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at Sun Country Airlines.

With these flights, as Milwaukee Mitchell Airport notes, "running through the busy spring break season," the facility is well placed to capitalize on leisure demand that extends beyond the festive season.

Most notably, Sun Country Airlines will begin serving a new route to Sangster International Airport (MBJ) in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in January 2025, offering a perfect cure for the new year blues.

Alaska Airlines has a relatively limited presence in Milwaukee, amounting to a single route to the facility from its Pacific Northwest hub at Seattle Tacoma International Airport.

Indeed, the carrier serves this route less than daily on average, with just 27 round trips scheduled for the month of December 2024.

However, the carrier has an interesting charter offering lined up for the new year in Milwaukee.

Indeed, starting next month and offered via Apple Vacations/FunJet Vacations, the airline will also serve Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport (PVR) in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

These charters will fly on a weekly basis between January 25th and February 8th, with Aero Routes reporting that Alaska Airlines' aircraft of choice for these winter sun flights will be the Boeing 737-900ER jet.