Second airport in region breaks annual passenger traffic record

St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) broke its 2022 record for passenger count, increasing 2% from 2022 to service 2,494,952 passengers in 2023, according to a Thursday airport news release.

PIE had already broken monthly passenger count records in January, June, July, September, October, and November. And July 2023 was PIE's biggest month in its history, with 279,622 passengers, airport officials say.

PIE broke its annual record despite a 6% drop in December 2023, compared to December 2022. Last month, PIE had 195,211 passengers use the airport.