New service boosts air traffic

Good news for the hospitality industry in the Fort Myers-Naples area: Airport passenger traffic rose substantially in January.

“This one is the result of new air service,” says Victoria Moreland, director of public affairs for the Lee County Port Authority.

In January, 755,232 passengers passed through Southwest Florida International Airport, a 7.2% increase over the same month one year ago.

By contrast, in January last year, 704,427 passengers passed through the airport, a 3% decrease from January 2011. For the first six months of 2012, the airport posted year-over-year monthly drops in passenger counts as airlines cut back service last spring.

But January saw a significant boost in traffic as airlines added new flights. For example, Delta added new flights to New York-area airports, Spirit added flights to Boston and Minneapolis, Southwest resumed flights to Nashville and WestJet inaugurated flights to Ottawa, Canada.

February's tally appears promising, barring any unforeseen events or major storms that could interrupt flight service. “There's a bunch of new flights in February,” says Moreland.