Sarasota Bradenton International Airport Starts 2022 With Record-Breaking Numbers

SARASOTA-BRADENTON, FL — The Sarasota Bradenton International Airport started 2022 strong with a record-breaking number of passengers in January.

Last month, 302,189 passengers traveled through the airport, a 138 percent increase over the same time last year, which saw 126,704 passengers in January 2021.

This is the highest number of passengers for the month of January in SRQ’s history, the airport said in a news release.

“We continue to be pleasantly surprised by the number of passengers who choose SRQ, especially last month, with the many weather-related cancellations. In January, we had 282 flights cancelled, primarily due to the multiple cold fronts moving across the United States. Flight schedules are returning to normal as we prepare for our peak months of March and April,” said Rick Piccolo, the airport’s president and CEO.

The growth is a continuation from last 2021, when the airport saw a 155.7 percent increase in passengers. Last year, 3,163,543 people traveled through SRQ compared to 2,010,304 passengers in 2020.

Related Stories:

• Annual Passenger Record Broken At Sarasota Bradenton Airport
• New Airline To Fly Out Of Sarasota Bradenton Airport In January
• Airport Expansion Planned, Passenger Traffic Grows Significantly
• American Airlines Expands Service Between Sarasota And Chicago

Record-breaking growth is expected to continue in 2022 as airlines add new destinations. Allegiant Air will begin new nonstop service to Akron-Canton, Ohio on March 3 and to Appleton, Wisconsin on March 11. Avelo Airlines also recently announced it will begin offering nonstop service between Sarasota Bradenton International Airport and New Haven, Connecticut early next year.

There were approximately 2 million airline seats available to purchase at SRQ in the first four months of the new year, a 42 percent increase over 2021, the airport said.

The airport completed multiple projects last year to accommodate its rapid growth. These projects include a major expansion of the screening checkpoint area, three new 100,000-gallon jet fuel storage tanks, the expansion of the long-term parking lot and the addition of remote parking lots.

Plans for this year include the groundbreaking for a new ground transportation facility, improved and expanded concessions and a new ground-level terminal with at least five additional gates.