Hurricane Irma put a big dent on passenger numbers at airports across Florida, especially in our region. In September, just shy of 52,000 passengers came through Punta Gord Airport, down nearly 20 percent from the year before. It was much of the same at Southwest Florida Int’l in Fort Myers, which saw a 16 percent decline in year over year traffic. Officials with the Lee County Port Authority said 438 flights were canceled over the four-day span of Saturday, Sept. 9, through Tuesday, Sept. 12. At Punta Gorda Airport, Executive Director James Parish didn’t have specific numbers, but noted Allegiant Air canceled an entire week’s worth of flights due to the storm.
