Fort Myers airport sees uptick in passengers

The number of passengers traveling through Southwest Florida International Airport was up in August and has been trending up overall this year, officials say.

In August, the airport in Fort Myers accommodated 614,531 passengers, according to the Lee County Port Authority. This was an increase of 2% compared with August 2023.

So far this year, passenger traffic is up 16% overall compared with last year, officials say.

Leading in market share in August was Delta with 163,035 passengers; it was followed by Southwest with 104,941 passengers, American with 100,181 passengers, United with 92,144 passengers and JetBlue with 50,564 passengers, according to airport officials.

In August, authorities say Southwest Florida International saw 5,423 airport operations, or takeoffs and landings, marking a 2% year-over-year increase. At the same time, Page Field had 12,999 airport operations, which was a 19% decrease compared with the same time in 2023, officials say. 

"The decrease at Page Field, which is our general aviation (no commercial flights), is due to less flight school activity," says Victoria Moreland, spokesperson for the Lee County Port Authority and Southwest Florida International Airport.

In 2023, the airport in Fort Myers served more than 10 million passengers, according to officials, making it one of the top 50 airports for passenger traffic in the United States. No ad valorem (property) taxes are used for airport operation or construction.