Southwest Florida Int’l Airport Reports Record-Breaking December and Year-End Traffic

During December, 873,494 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., an increase of 3.9 percent compared to December 2016. Year-end passenger traffic was up 2.8 percent compared to last year.

“December 2017 was the best December in the 35-year history of the airport and our performance for the year exceeded all expectations to be a historic best with 8,842,549 passengers,” said Jeff Mulder, A.A.E., executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. “Passenger growth at RSW indicates the appeal for travel to Southwest Florida and we appreciate the support of our airline partners in adding new markets and increasing flight schedules to meet this demand.”

The traffic leader in December was Delta Air Lines with 149,976 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. Rounding out the top five airlines were Southwest (145,615), American (115,747), Spirit (108,201) and JetBlue (105,066).

Southwest Florida International Airport had 8,008 aircraft operations, a decrease of 1.2 percent compared to December 2016. Page Field saw 7,289 operations, a 16.1 percent decrease from December 2016. In addition, nearly 3.5 million pounds of air freight moved through Southwest Florida International Airport in December 2017.

Southwest Florida International Airport served more than 8.8 million passengers in 2017 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 www.flylcpa.com or Like Us on Facebook at www.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.