Fort Myers airport traffic spikes

FORT MYERS — August is traditionally a slow month for tourism in Southwest Florida, but a big spike in airport traffic bodes well for this winter season.

Passenger traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport rose 7.8% in August compared with the same month one year ago. The Lee County Port Authority says 446,402 passengers passed through the airport in August and traffic is up 4% for the first eight months compared with the same period in 2013.

The jump in passenger traffic comes despite a drop in takeoffs and landings at Southwest Florida International. The airport says such aircraft movements fell 9.8% in August compared with August 2013.

The traffic leader in August was Delta with 105,998 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. Rounding out the top five airlines were Southwest (72,207 passengers), JetBlue (57,282), US Airways (45,743) and American (37,695).