Southwest Florida International Airport Reports Record-Breaking December and Year-End Traffic

During December, a record-breaking 1,085,569 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers. This was an increase of 68 percent compared to December 2020. Year-to-date, passenger traffic was up 73 percent compared to last year. This is the eighth consecutive month that RSW has reported record-breaking passenger traffic. The airport finished 2021 with 10,322,434 passengers, which was a 1 percent increase compared to the previous record set in 2019.

“December 2021 was the busiest December in the 39-year history of the airport, and we reached a new annual traffic record of more than 10.3 million passengers,” said Ben Siegel, CPA, C.M., executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. “This marks a tremendous year of recovery at Southwest Florida International Airport, and we are incredibly appreciative of the outstanding performance by all of our employees, airlines and airport business partners who support the traveling public each and every day. We are also grateful for the passengers who support us by making RSW their airport of choice.”

The traffic leader in December was Southwest with 190,549 total passengers. Rounding out the top five airlines were Delta (188,792), United (165,141), American (154,493) and Spirit (120,486).

Southwest Florida International Airport had 10,625 aircraft operations; an increase of 25 percent compared to December 2020. Page Field saw 13,030 operations, a 20 percent increase compared to December 2020. Page Field annual operations finished at 140,062, an increase of 11 percent compared to 2020.

Southwest Florida International Airport served more than 10.3 million passengers in 2021 and is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic. No ad valorem (property) taxes are used for airport operation or construction. For more information, visit flylcpa.com or facebook.com/flyRSW.

Kim Stevens

Kim Stevens is the publisher of State Aviation Journal, which he founded in 2009. A longtime commercial-rated pilot, he was introduced to state aviation in 1992 as Director of the Nebraska Department of Aeronautics, later serving as Deputy Division Director for the Arizona Department of Transportation's Aeronautics Division. From 2013 to 2018, he was Director of Communications and Operations for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) in Washington, D.C. Relocating to North Carolina, Kim worked for the Raleigh-Durham International Airport for two years and now concentrates solely on the Journal. Prior to his aviation career, Kim spent a decade in the newspaper and magazine business.