12-month passenger count through September up 47% over 12-month figure through September 2021
The uptick may have been just 1%, but the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) did count more passengers in September this year than it did in September 2021, the airport has announced.
During September, 190,405 passengers traveled through the airport, a news release says. Further, the release notes, the number of passengers traveling through SRQ year-to-date, through September, totaled 2,802,331, a 26% hike, compared to the 2021 figure through September.
Moreover, the release adds, the passenger count for 12 months through September of this year was 3,746,571, which marked a 47% jump, compared to the figure of 2,555,495 passengers for the 12 months through September 2021, the release says.
In contrast to the new data, August’s passenger count was the third in a row in which the airport recorded fewer passengers, month-over-month, than it noted in 2021. The August figure was down 2.9% from the August 2021 total, while the June number marked a 7.8% decrease, compared to the June 2021 count, and the July passenger total dropped 13.4% from the July 2021 figure.
Even with more than 90 cancelled flights because of concerns about Hurricane Ian — resulting in an estimated loss of more than 20,000 passengers — SRQ “still experienced an increase in passengers for September over the prior year,” Frederick “Rick” Piccolo, president and CEO of the airport, noted in the latest news release.
At 8 p.m. on Sept. 27, with Ian’s landfall expected in Southwest Florida, SRQ ceased operations, with plans to lock and secure the terminal, it reported. As a news release pointed out, “The airport terminal is not a shelter.”
Further, Piccolo pointed out in the release, “Our seasonal service is beginning to return, and we are noticing much higher passenger load factors than last year. With one new route and 11 returning routes starting next month,” he added, “we expect to continue to break passenger records as we begin the peak season.”
The release did point to new service starting on Nov. 2, courtesy of Breeze Airways. That entails flights from Sarasota to White Plains, N.Y. (HPN).
The following are among returning flights in the next two months:
- Nov. 1 — Washington, D.C. (IAD), United.
- Nov. 3 — Toronto (YYZ), Air Canada.
- Nov. 6 — Denver (DEN), Southwest.
- Nov. 18 — Baltimore (BWI), Allegiant.
- Nov. 19 — Richmond, Va., (RIC), Allegiant.
- Dec. 15 — Houston (IAH) — United.
- Dec. 17 — Denver (DEN), United.