DETROIT (TheStreet) -- Sometimes in all the chatter about the decline of the city of Detroit and the decline of commercial aviation's Midwest hubs, the story of Detroit Metro Airport gets lost.
The announcement on Thursday that Spirit (SAVE_) will add Minneapolis service is a sign that the airport is flourishing. But it is just one of many good signs at Delta's (DAL_) second-largest hub. At Detroit Metro, Delta operates 450 peak daily operations to 132 destinations.
Alaska (ALK_) announced Tuesday it will fly Seattle-Detroit. In December, Detroit Metro traffic grew 7.4%. Other recently announced new service includes Delta's second daily London Heathrow flight, starting this summer; the start of JetBlue (JBLU_) Boston-Detroit service in March; and a Frontier flight to Wilmington, Del., service in April.
Perhaps the most striking fact about Detroit Metro is that its No. 1 international destination, in terms of revenue, is Shanghai. Delta flies daily to Shanghai with a 269-seat Boeing 777LR. According to airport stats, the Shanghai market produces about $71 million in annual revenue, counting tickets sold at both ends. ..............(more)
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