St. Pete-Clearwater airport traffic takes off

CLEARWATER — St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport reported a sharp uptick in airline travel since May of this year. The airport reports it has had seven consecutive months of double-digit increases in passengers compared with 2012. Beginning in May, it posted 28%, 28%, 22%, 19%, 14%, 16%, and 20% increases over the same month a year ago.

For November, St. Pete- Clearwater International Airport had 84,125 passengers, bringing its year-to-date total to 919,951. The airport expects to pass the 1 million mark this year, the first time it has achieved that level of traffic since 2004.

That growth was aided by the addition of several new routes recently. Allegiant Airline started service to six new destinations between Oct. 31 and Nov. 23. Sunwing Airlines has also started flights from the airport with service to and from Toronto, which began Oct. 21. In February, Sunwing Airlines will add Halifax to its list of destinations served at St. Pete- Clearwater International Airport.