Passenger growth has airport officials scrambling to keep up at SRQ
In the past year, passenger growth at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport went from soaring to coming to a dead stop during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Monday, Rick Piccolo told members of the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority that not only is passenger growth soaring again, it has reached a trajectory he could never have imagined.
In the first seven months of 2022, it is projected that SRQ will serve 2.5 million passengers, compared to 1.3 million in the same period of the 2020 pandemic year, and 1.3 million in the the year before the arrival of the pandemic.
“Tremendous, tremendous growth that creates new issues for us,” Piccolo said.
One consultant conducted a study of airport enplanement trends in the United States over the next five years that shows SRQ with 72.6 percent growth, which would make it the fastest-growing airport in the country.
“I bring these up to show you some of the issues we will be dealing with,” Piccolo said, urging “preparation, not panic.”
Work is now underway to expand the airport fuel farm to increase capacity to 290,000 gallons to serve all of the new flights.
Airport authority members Monday approved the final draft of the airport master plan, which includes provisions for the addition of a concourse to help handle the airport’s growing business, adding space to the existing concourse to accommodate more concessions, consolidating the baggage handling system, consolidating the rental care facility and more.
Authority member Carlos Beruff recommended starting the paperwork sooner rather than later to streamline the process of adding another concourse, which is forecast to be about a $109 million project.
The earliest that a new concourse might be added is four to five years.
“It usually takes two years to build,” Beruff said, noting that getting federal paperwork approvals prior to building is usually a lengthy process.
Monday, the passenger drop-off area in front of the terminal stayed busy with continuous vehicle traffic as passengers lined up at ticket counters inside.
“Every day becomes an adventure,” Piccolo said of challenges caused by all the new and expanding airport business. “I have been in this business 50 years and I have never seen anything come close to this at any airport that I am aware. It has come on us pretty quickly.”
The estimated cost of all items in the airport’s capital improvement plan comes to $348 million, funded with a combination of fees, grants and the assumption of some debt.
There are now 10 airlines serving 45 destinations from SRQ.
Allegiant and more recently Southwest have been prime movers in boosting passenger traffic at SRQ.
On Saturday, the airport had 58 arriving flights and 58 departing flights. On Sunday, there were 57 arriving and 57 departing flights.
During the downturn caused by the pandemic, SRQ implemented stepped-up cleaning and safety measures and expedited construction projects that would have been difficult to complete during a busier time. Among those projects: repaving short and long-term parking lots, redesigning the screening checkpoint and accelerating airfield construction projects.
This story was originally published March 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
