Airline passenger traffic at Sarasota Bradenton regained more lost ground in September
Sarasota Bradenton International Airport had its best month for passenger traffic in September since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Passenger traffic grew to 53 percent of what it had been in the same month in 2019. In each of the two previous months, passenger traffic was 43 percent of what it had been in 2019. There were 66,249 passengers in September 2020 compared to 125,361 passengers in September 2019.
Year-to-date figures show that airport passenger traffic is down 35.5 percent compared to 2019 with 900,794 passengers using the airport so far this year.
SRQ had been one of the fastest growing airports in the country until the arrival of the pandemic. SRQ’s growth spurt coincided with the addition of low-cost carrier Allegiant in 2018. Compared to 2017, SRQ passenger traffic was actually up 8 percent this September, said Rick Piccolo, the airport’s president and CEO.
Service gains at SRQ in October include returning flights by JetBlue to New York and Boston, the addition of twice daily service to Washington Dulles by United Airlines, and the addition of nonstop service to Nashville by Allegiant.
Two of the flights that were previously scheduled to return in October had their start date pushed back to November. These include Air Canada’s nonstop flight to Toronto nd JetBlue’s nonstop flight to Newark, N.J.
“We are encouraged by the gradual increases in service and passengers as the airport transitions back to the traditionally busier season,” Piccolo said.
On Oct. 4, SRQ had 27 arrivals and 27 departures, the airport’s busiest day since the pandemic hit in late March.
“Our parking lots are beginning to slowly fill back up and passengers seem to appreciate the many cleaning and safety measures the airport has put in place,” Piccolo said.
Some of the cleaning and safety measures include plastic shields at all customer service counters, touchless hand sanitizer stations, social distancing markers in queuing lines, courtesy thermal temperature scanners, and increased janitorial staff to clean high-touch surfaces.
Employees, tenants, and passengers wear protective face coverings to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
SRQ recently received an Airport Health Accreditation Certificate from Airports Council International World (ACI), the global trade organization that represents the world’s airports.
“Receiving ACI’s Airport Health Accreditation validates our commitment to providing passengers with a clean and safe traveling environment when using SRQ. Since the start of the pandemic, we have worked with our tenants and the TSA to implement multiple layers of cleaning and safety measures,” Piccolo said.
SRQ is spending more than $1.2 million on janitorial services to ensure cleanliness and safety.
“We are also spending over $200,000 to upgrade our restrooms to a fully touchless experience,” he said.
SRQ currently has eight airlines providing nonstop service to 36 destinations. For more information about destinations available at SRQ visit https://srq-airport.com/nonstop-destinations.
