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DuPage Airport operations highest since 2005

WEST CHICAGO - DuPage Airport is set to record its largest number of annual operations since 2005, thanks mainly to an increase in flight training activity.

DuPage reached nearly 115,000 operations as of Nov. 1, surpassing its 2018 year-end total of 106,249. The airport is expected to finish the year between 125,000 - 130,000 operations, just shy of the 133,000 recorded in 2005. The total operations rank DuPage as the third busiest airport in Illinois behind only O'Hare and Midway.

While itinerant operations - aircraft that either land at DuPage from other airports or takeoff from DuPage and leave the general airport area - was up slightly from 2018, local operations like flight training were 44.2% higher through October compared to the same time in 2018.

Most of the local operations come from three different flight schools housed at the airport - Illinois Aviation Academy, Avel Flight School and ATP Flight Training.

"The significant increase in flight training speaks to the dynamic nature of DuPage Airport," said Mark Doles, executive director of the DuPage Airport Authority.

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