More Than a Half-Million Passengers in December At Southwest Florida International Airport
FORT MYERS, Fla., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- More passengers traveled through
Southwest Florida International Airport last month than during any December in
the airport's 19-year history. More than a half-million passengers -- 502,789
-- represented increases of 18.45 percent over December 2001 and 5.45 percent
over December 2000.
"New service from Frontier and USA 3000, and more flights from our
existing airlines contributed to December's strong activity," said Robert M.
Ball, A.A.E., executive director of the Lee County Port Authority.
Despite the record-setting December, the year-end total of 5.19 million
passengers was down 1.7 percent from 2001, which was the airport's busiest
year to date. 2002 traffic was down less than a half-percent from 2000.
Still, Southwest Florida International Airport's passenger traffic
continues to fare better than the national average. Nationwide, passenger
traffic increased 11.4 percent during December and was down 4.7 percent for
the year, according to the Air Transport Association.
Last month was the first December to reach the half-million-passenger
milestone at Southwest Florida International Airport and the first month to
break a passenger-traffic record since August 2001. The Sept. 11, 2001
terrorist attacks ended an eight-month stretch of record-setting passenger
increases at the airport.
Roughly 3 million pounds of air cargo moved through the airport during
December, for a monthly increase of 4.2 percent. Year to date, cargo volume
decreased by just more than a half-percent.
For more information, visit the airport's home page at http://www.SWFIA.com.
Roger
EWROPS