COVID-19 fears ground SRQ airport almost to a halt. Passengers may already be coming back
Due to COVID-19 concerns, passenger traffic fell 95 percent in April, compared to April 2019, at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport with 9,742 only passengers traveling through the terminal.
Year-to-date, airport passenger traffic is down 8.5 percent for the first quarter of 2020, with 621,192 passengers using SRQ, according to a press release from SRQ.
“While we are still a very long way from recovery, the airport has seen a gradual increase in passenger traffic over the last week. As more states open their economy, we are confident that the positive trend will continue. When the passengers are ready, we are ready,” Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of SRQ, said in the press release.
Last week, Allegiant, one of the airlines that made SRQ one of the fastest growing airports in the United States, announced that it is providing complimentary health and safety kits to passengers flying the leisure-focused airline to help restore customer confidence during the cornavirus pandemic.
The kits, which include a single-use face mask, a pair of disposable non-latex gloves and cleaning wipes, were rolled out through Allegiant’s network last week, and distributed to customers as they board their flights.
In preparation for a more normal return to operation, SRQ has made many operational and physical improvements, including a doubling of janitorial staff, plexiglass shields at all customer service counters, numerous added hand sanitizer stations and social distancing markers in queuing lines.
For information on flights at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, visit https://srq-airport.com.
