Total passenger traffic at Detroit Metropolitan Airport increased 4 percent for the first quarter of 2008, according to numbers released by the airport authority's Division of Financial Planning & Analysis.

March passengers increased 3.9 percent to 3,364,688, pushing the first quarter to 8,805,643. Operations remained essentially flat as 115,498 aircraft took off or landed on the airport's six jet runways for the first three months of 2008.

"It is very encouraging to see this growth," said Lester Robinson, Wayne County Airport Authority CEO. "More passengers mean more jobs and economic opportunities for local businesses."