Travel numbers at Cherry Capital Airport (TVC) remain slightly ahead of last year’s record passenger count, amidst a slight downturn in state-wide air travel.

The Northwest Regional Airport Authority Board this week reviewed state-wide air travel numbers for the first half of 2026 compiled by Michigan Department of Transportation. The data showed that passenger counts at 17 airports tracked by MDOT totaled just over 18.9 million, a 1.4 percent dip from last year. Travel at TVC through June totaled 385,854 passengers, a 1.6 percent increase from last year.

Air travel at Michigan’s two largest airports dipped a bit so far this year. Detroit Metropolitan Airport fell 1.5 percent to just over 15.6 million, while the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids fell 0.5 percent to under 2.1 million.

Travel was mixed at other Michigan airports. Passenger counts at Bishop International Airport in Flint – the fourth-largest after Detroit, Grand Rapids and TVC – fell 0.7 percent to just over 364,000 travelers. MBS International Airport near Sagniaw fell 5 percent to just over 104,000, while Capital Regional International Airport in Lansing fell 23 percent to 85,362. Battle Creek/Kalamazoo International Airport was up 11 percent to almost 91,000, while Sawyer International Airport in Marquette was up almost 24 percent to 56,116.

In northern Michigan, air travel through June at Pellston Regional Airport in Emmet County fell more than 20 percent to 18,462, while travel was up  almost 10 percent at Blacker Airport in Manistee to just over 7,000.

In July, TVC’s monthly operations report showed 149,016 travelers through the airport, a 2.7 percent dip from last year. Cherry Capital CEO Kevin Klein noted that July 2025 was an all-time record month for the airport, and while this year’s July numbers were down, it was still the second-busiest travel month in the airport’s history.

“When you look at it, it was still a great, great July,” Klein told the NRAA Board. “Being in the ballpark (with last year) and watching how everyone else was down, we did just fine.”

Through July, TVC’s handled 534,370 travelers this year, up 0.4 percent from last year’s record travel numbers that ended with 935,816 passengers during the year.