Total count for first four months of this year up 71.5%, compared to same period of 2021
Having surpassed the 1-million count in the first three months of this year, Sarasota Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) saw another jump in its passenger total for April, Frederick “Rick” Piccolo, president and CEO of the airport, has announced.
For the month of April, a news release says, 386,013 passengers traveled through SRQ. This represented a 31% increase over the number served in April 2021, the release points out.
Altogether, through the first four months of this year, the count of passengers the airport served was 1,471,513, compared to 858,231 for the same period of 2021, the release says. That is an increase of 71.5%, it notes.
In March, the airport saw 442,846 passengers, a figure that marked a 59.5% hike from the total for March 2021, the airport reported.
“We have had more passengers use our airport in the first four months of this year than we typically see for an entire calendar year,” Piccolo pointed out in the release. “This unprecedented growth continues for our region and the airport,” he added.
“Nationwide, many airlines have reduced their summer schedules due to pilot shortages and rising fuel prices and we will see some of those impacts here,” Piccolo continued. “With high demand and fewer flights, people need to plan their travel this summer early while seat inventory and discount pricing are still available,” he said,
In a related note, SRQ will be welcoming yet another new airline next month. Breeze Airways will start service on June 4, with nonstop flights to Hartford, Conn., the release said.
In recent months, the airport has issued a number of announcements about new service, including flights that Allegiant has added. Most recently, Allegiant began nonstop service to Minneapolis on May 6. That followed its February launch of nonstop service to Austin, Texas, which will be provided year-round.
Early this year — on Jan. 13 — Avelo Airlines began flying nonstop service to New Haven, Conn., which it called the “ultra-convenient gateway to the greater Connecticut, New York and New England region.” Flights are offered Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, the airline noted at the time.