Airport Expansion Planned, Passenger Traffic Grows Significantly

SARASOTA, FL — Passenger traffic is booming at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (SRQ) as the airport continues to see record-breaking growth this year.

In May, passenger traffic at SRQ totaled 288,551, according to a news release from the airport. That number is 622 percent higher than May 2020, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s also 79 percent higher than the pre-pandemic levels of May 2019.

“I didn’t expect to see the numbers that we’re seeing,” Rick Piccolo, president and CEO, told Patch. “We are recovering faster than most places.”

Even in late 2020 and the first months of 2021, when concerns about the ongoing pandemic continued to curb travel worldwide, traffic through Sarasota-Bradenton was down just 37 percent compared to the previous year, while most other airports around country saw a 50 to 75 percent drop in traffic, Piccolo said.

“I think that’s attributable to the location,” he said.

With outdoor activities, such as beaches, golf, fishing and boating, it was easier for visitors to socially distance in the Sarasota-Bradenton area, he added. “Plus, Florida has been far more open than most states. I think that helped.”

All of the airline companies that fly out of Sarasota-Bradenton have been doing well, Piccolo said. “Allegiant has grown quite a bit. Delta has added cities. United and American have been strong.”

But since the addition of Southwest Airlines in February, traffic has really taken off, he said. “As we started to hit the spring and Southwest came in, the growth has been explosive.”

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Between the Southwest flights and the new destinations added by the other airline companies that have flown out of Sarasota-Bradenton for years, the number of passenger seats offered at SRQ is up 180 percent this year compared to 2019.

“That’s not 2020, the pandemic year,” Piccolo said. “That’s over 2019. And we were up 43 percent in 2019.”

SRQ is the fastest growing airport in the United States, he added. In 2019 and 2020, there was approximately 1.5 million passenger seats coming from and going to the airport. By the end of 2021, there will be more than 4.3 million passenger seats flying in and out of Sarasota-Bradenton.

Every month, the airport’s airline partners add new destinations and additional seats.

“And they’ve all done well. It would be one thing to say we had a lot of seats, but flights were canceled in a lot of cities,” Piccolo said. “Nothing has been canceled. Every time we add a city, it seems to do well.”

To address this growth, the airport will spend more than $100 million on expansion and renovation projects in coming years.

The priority project is the construction of a new $25 million five-gate terminal on the east end of the airport over the next 18 to 24 months, Piccolo said. This addition is a single-story, ground-loading terminal that will have passengers walk out to a ramp and load the plane.

“That was the quickest way to get it done,” he said. “Instead of a jet bridge, we’ll pull the ramp up to the aircraft. It will relieve some of the pressure.”

In coming weeks, the airport will also see the completion of a parking lot expansion project and the expansion of its fuel farm, increasing its fuel storage capacity from 90,000 to 390,000 gallons.

Sarasota-Bradenton will also expand its existing terminal wing to increase its holding space and concession offerings and also expand its baggage claim area, a $50 million project, within two years.

A new ground transportation center to handle pick-ups and drop-offs by rideshare service, taxis and shuttles will be built within the next year and the security checkpoint will be expanded, as well, Piccolo said. The airport will also consolidate the rental car and maintenance facilities in the next two to three years.

“Simply, the growth dictates doing these facility improvements,” he said. “We want to continue the level of convenience and cleanliness that the public has come to expect of us.”

Airport officials need to think of SRQ’s future growth with these expansion projects, he added.

“I think this growth will continue, certainly not to the level of 180 percent, but even if it slows down to a normal 3 to 4 percent, we’re looking at 100,000 to 150,000 (new passenger seats) than the previous year,” Piccolo said. “That’s more significant than the old days, when 3 percent (increase) on 1 million (passenger seats) was 30,000 and we’d hardly notice it.”

The airport board approved a 20-year master plan for Sarasota-Bradenton in March. Mere months later, SRQ has already hit the passenger level milestones projected for 2031, he added. “I don’t think there’s another airport in the country or the world right now that has seen the kind of growth we have.”