Southwest Florida International Airport

Fort Myers, Florida: Just east of I-75 in Fort Myers is the gateway to Southwest Florida. Southwest Florida International Airport is a modern airport that welcomes over 7 ½ million travelers through its gates on a yearly basis. The airport accommodates over 200 flights a day through the United States, Canada, Demark and Germany.

The airport was designed by the Lee County Port Authority to help alleviate the traffic to nearby Page Field. Ground was broken on the new Regional Southwest Airport in 1980. The airport was completed in 1983 with Delta Air Lines operating the inaugural flight. The airport was later renamed to the current name of Southwest Florida International Airport in 1993.

By the end of the 1980’s, the airport had exceeded its designed capacity and needed to expand. The answer was the Midfield Terminal Complex. Completed in 2006, it allowed the airport to expand to 28 gates located amongst three concourses with the option to expand to 65 gates in the future. The expansion allows the airport to adequately serve its 7 ½ million annual passengers.

Southwest Florida International Airport is one of the busiest single runway airports in the country. They operate over 200 flights a day from just a single runway. Runway 6/24 us a 12,000 foot long asphalt runway. Much of the airports traffic is commercial while general aviation regularly uses nearby Page Field. 

The airport is home to eighteen airlines. Together these airlines service over 40 non-stop destinations. As of January 2012, here are the airlines operating out of Southwest Florida International Airport and the destinations they serve:
  • Air Berlin (Düsseldorf) 
  • Air Canada (Montréal, Toronto) 
  • AirTran Airways (Atlanta, Baltimore, Bloomington-Normal, Boston, Buffalo, Canton-Akron, Chicago-Midway, Columbus, Flint, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Washington DC-National) 
  • American Airlines (Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth) 
  • American Eagle (Miami) 
  • Cape Air (Key West) 
  • ComeFly (Aalborg) 
  • Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, New York-Newark) 
  • Delta Air Line (Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit-Metro, Memphis, Minneapolis, Delta-LaGuardia) 
  • Frontier Airlines (Denver, Kansas City, Milwaukee) 
  • Jet Blue (Boston, Buffalo, New York-JFK, New York-Newark, White Plains) 
  • Southwest Airlines (Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Long Island-Islip, Nashville, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis) 
  • Spirit Airlines (Atlantic City, Chicago-O’Hare, Detroit-Metro) 
  • Sun Country (Minneapolis ) 
  • United Airlines (Chicago-O’Hare) 
  • USA 3000 Airlines (Chicago-O’Hare, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis) 
  • US Airways (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington DC-National) 
  • West Jet (Toronto) 
In addition to the commercial passenger service, the airport also serves for cargo service through FedEx and UPS.

The Southwest Florida International Airport has won numerous awards over the past few years including being ranked the second airport in the nation with under 10 million annual passengers by JD Power. It has also been rated the commercial airport of the year by the Florida Department of Transportation.

With close proximity to beaches and attraction combined with the variety of airlines and destinations, it is easy to see why Southwest Florida International Airport is the airport of choice for more then 7 million passengers each year.

Click on the photo to view my Southwest Florida International Airport photo gallery.

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