Punta Gorda airport traffic spikes

PUNTA GORDA — Nearly 72,000 passengers flying on discount leisure airline Allegiant Air passed through the airport in Charlotte County in April, a 155% increase compared with the same month in 2013.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air provides nonstop jet service to 23 cities from Punta Gorda. The airline combines air service and hotel bookings for tourists from regional airports in northern cities such as Allentown, Penn., Columbus, Ohio, and South Bend, Ind.

“Over a quarter of a million passengers traveling through the Punta Gorda Airport for the first four months of year is phenomenal,” says Don Lee, chairman of the Charlotte County Airport Authority, in a statement.

For the first four months of this year, a total of 251,903 passengers passed through the Bailey Terminal at Punta Gorda Airport compared to 102,146 during the same period in 2013, the airport authority reported.