Punta Gorda Airport traffic soars

PUNTA GORDA — Passenger traffic at Punta Gorda Airport rose 73% as the sole carrier, Allegiant Air, carried more people to 21 destinations.

Discount airline Allegiant flies nonstop jets to second-tier cities in the Northeast and Midwest from the small airport in Southwest Florida. Destinations include Allentown, Pa., Columbus, Ohio, and Niagara Falls, N.Y.

In August, Allegiant carried 38,744 passengers through the Punta Gorda Airport, according to the Charlotte County Airport Authority.

Don Lee, chairman of the authority, says the passenger traffic isn't limited to tourists visiting Southwest Florida. “The growth of the passengers in the summer months indicates that Floridians are headed north for the summer,” Lee says in a statement.