Announcement Thursday on new airline for SRQ

A new airline is heading to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, according to a Wednesday release from SRQ about a Thursday morning news conference.

An announcement is expected at a 9 a.m. media event at the airport, at which the facility’s 11th air carrier will be made official. Airport CEO Rick Piccolo would not identify the airline to the Business Observer.

Having assured itself in August of an all-time passenger traffic mark, the airport continues to pad its record through the autumn.

Through September, the airport handled 2,219,303 passengers. The airport by the end of August set a 12-month record for passenger traffic, breaking the old mark set in 1990.

In the first eight months of 2021, 2,034,538 passengers passed through the airport, eclipsing the record of 2,010,304 set 31 year ago. In August, passenger traffic reached 247,900, 83% higher than the pre-pandemic levels of 2019 and more than three times the passenger traffic of August, 2020.

Delta, United, American, Southwest, Allegiant, Jet Blue, Sun Country, Elite, Frontier, and Air Canada – operate to and from 50 destinations from Sarasota-Bradenton International. Alaska Airlines and Spirit Airlines are the largest domestic carriers not serving SRQ. Start-up Avelo plans to launch non-stop service from New Haven, Connecticut to five Florida cities (Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach) in November.

In large part to the arrival of Allegiant and Southwest Airlines, traffic at Sarasota-Bradenton International has driven record-setting passenger gains in recent years. Between the two carriers, 48 destinations have been added since 2018.