Airlines throttle back on Fort Myers

FORT MYERS — Air traffic dropped at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers in September, a traditionally slow month for tourism in the region.

Takeoffs and landings at the Fort Myers airport dropped 4.7% and 338,175 passengers passed through the airport, a 4.6% decline.

Despite September's decline, passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport is up 4.6% for the year with nearly 5.8 million passengers passing through the airport compared with the same nine months of 2012. More than 7.3 million passengers passed through the airport last year, making it one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic.