Airport surpasses monthly passenger record, up 560% over pandemic

FORT MYERS — May was a record-breaking month at Southwest Florida International Airport, with 946,366 passengers coming through the facility.

That was up 562% over May 2020 and more than 30% over May 2019, according to a statement. Year-to-date, passenger traffic at the airport, under the call letters RSW, is up 34.9% compared to last year, the release adds.

The traffic leader in May was Southwest Airlines with 212,214 total passengers. Rounding out the top five airlines were Delta (193,971), American (124,336), United (122,108) and JetBlue (94,007).

Southwest Florida International Airport had 9,203 aircraft operations, an increase of nearly 175% from May 2020, the release states, Page Field saw 12,097 operations, a 24.7% increase over May 2020.

Southwest Florida International Airport served nearly 6 million passengers in 2020 and is one of the top 50 U.S. airports for passenger traffic. No ad valorem (property) taxes are used for airport operation or construction.