Southwest starts daily service between Sarasota Bradenton and this southern city
As passenger traffic continues to rebound at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, Southwest Airlines added another destination on Thursday with daily non-stop, year-round service to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Southwest has been aggressively adding new destinations since launching service at SRQ in February.
Delta Air Lines, one of the airport’s longest serving carriers, also offers daily nonstop service to Atlanta.
Passenger traffic at Sarasota Bradenton International increased 26 percent in February over the previous month. There were 159,772 passengers passing through the SRQ terminal in February, compared to 126,704 in January.
In part, the increase can be attributed to growing confidence in anti-virus measures being taken by the airline industry, and in part by the growing number of destinations offered at SRQ.
While passenger traffic continues to recover at SRQ, it still lags the robust numbers being recorded immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Passenger traffic in February was 69 percent of the 2020 level of 232,549.
“It is great to see our passenger numbers starting to recover. With more individuals getting their vaccine, and COVID-19 cases on the decline, we are seeing an increase in the aircraft load factors and the number of travelers using our airport,” Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of the airport, said in a press release.
“With spring break now upon us, we expect to see upwards of 10,000 plus passengers per day traveling through our airport,” he said.
There are now 10 airlines serving 45 destinations from SRQ.
Service starting soon at SRQ:
▪ March 13 Columbus, Ohio (CMH) Southwest (new seasonal service)
▪ March 13 Indianapolis (IND) Southwest (new seasonal service)
▪ March 13 Pittsburgh (PIT) Southwest (new seasonal service)
▪ April 17 Milwaukee (MKE) Southwest (new seasonal service
▪ May 27 Peoria, Ill. (PIA) Allegiant (new seasonal service)
▪ May 28 Concord, N.C. (USA) Allegiant (new seasonal service)
For a list of all destinations available at SRQ, visit https://srq-airport.com/nonstop-destinations.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 2:51 PM.
