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A Half-Million Passengers Traveled Through Southwest Florida International Airport in June

Posted on: Friday, 22 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

More than 509,000 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport last month, making it the first June in the airport's 22-year-history to pass the half-million milestone. The number of passengers increased by nearly 15 percent compared to June 2004 and contributed to a year-to-date increase of 14.3 percent.

Nationwide, passenger traffic increased by 2.4 percent for June and 4.1 percent year to date.

"June was the airport's 31st consecutive month of record-breaking traffic," said Robert M. Ball, A.A.E., executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. "Passenger traffic increased by 14 percent for each of the past two years, and we're on track for a similar increase this year. In addition, Southwest Airlines begins service in October and other airlines are adding new routes and increasing schedules."

The airport's air cargo volume was up by 22.6 percent during June. Nearly 2.96 million pounds of freight were moved through the airport, helping to push the year-to-date volume nearly 11 percent ahead of the first six months of 2004.

Southwest Florida International Airport opened in May 1983. The original master plan projected that the airport would reach its capacity of 3 million passengers by 1995, but that number actually was reached in 1988 - seven years earlier than predicted. The airport has served more than 5 million passengers annually since 2000, with more than 6.7 million traveling through the airport during 2004. A new terminal, nearing completion south of the airport's runway, will have an annual capacity of 10 million passengers when it opens this year. To learn more, log onto http://www.flylcpa.com.

Source: Business Wire

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