Airport traffic jumps in July

FORT MYERS — Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport rose 6.1% in July compared with the same month last year despite fewer flights, indicating a stronger summer tourism season than last year.

Nearly a half million passengers passed through the airport in July despite an 8.3% drop in takeoffs and landings at the Fort Myers airport. Passenger traffic is up 3.7% for the year compared with the same period in 2013.

The traffic leader in July was Delta with 119,281 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. The other top carriers were Southwest (78,070 passengers), JetBlue (55,576), American (47,292) and AirTran (46,879).