Fort Myers airport passenger traffic down 11% in October

More than 657,000 passengers traveled through Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in October, an 11% decrease compared with the same month in 2023, according to the Lee County Port Authority.

Hurricane Milton struck Florida Oct. 9, prompting RSW to close that day and the next. The airport resumed operations Oct. 11.

Despite the closure and dip in passenger traffic in October, the port authority, according to a statement, reports passenger traffic is up 12% year to date.

Throughout October, 657,488 passengers traveled through the Fort Myers Airport, according to the port authority. Officials say Delta was the traffic leader as far as passengers, with 150,087; next were Southwest with 119,021; American with 98,389; United with 96,607; and JetBlue with 71,747 passengers.

In October, there was also a 15% increase in airport operations (takeoffs and landings) compared with last year, with 7,529 airport operations reported for the month, according to the port authority. Meanwhile, Page Field saw a 27% decrease in operations compared with the same time in 2023, with 12,261 October takeoffs and landings.

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.