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Southwest Florida International Airport
| Southwest Florida International Airport | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| IATA: RSW ICAO: KRSW FAA: RSW | |||
| Summary | |||
| Airport type | Public | ||
| Owner | Lee County Port Authority | ||
| Serves | Fort Myers, Florida | ||
| Location | South Fort Myers, Florida | ||
| Elevation AMSL | 30 ft / 9 m | ||
| Coordinates | 26°3210N 081°4519W / 26.53611°N 81.75528°W | ||
| Website | |||
| Runways | |||
| Direction | Length | Surface | |
| ft | m | ||
| 6/24 | 12,000 | 3,658 | Asphalt |
| Statistics (2008) | |||
| Aircraft operations | 89,303 | ||
| Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1] | |||
Southwest Florida International Airport (IATA: RSW, ICAO: KRSW, FAA LID: RSW) is a public county-owned airport located in the South Fort Myers region of unincorporated Lee County, Florida, United States. The airport's service market is Southwest Florida, particularly greater Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, Bonita Springs and Naples. The airport serves as a focus city for AirTran Airways.
The designator RSW was originally assigned for "Regional South-West" (for Southwest Florida Regional Airport). In 1993, the Lee County Port Authority renamed the airport as Southwest Florida International Airport.
In 2008, total passengers numbered 7,603,845. The airport is one of the top 50 busiest for passenger traffic in the U.S and is also a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry.
LeeTran bus #50 serves the airport.
Contents |
History
RSW was first conceived in 1973, when it became apparent that the existing airport in Fort Myers, Page Field, would not be able to accommodate new aircraft and increased traffic. The government of Lee County, along with Page Field's two carriers National and Eastern, selected a site near Interstate 75, which was under construction at the time. Groundbreaking was held in 1980, and Southwest Florida Regional Airport opened on schedule, May 14, 1983. Delta Air Lines performed the inaugural flight.
The airport was renamed Southwest Florida International Airport in 1993, although it had hosted international flights since 1984 and U.S. Customs since 1987, primarily for services to Germany and other destinations in Europe. Also in 1993, the runway was lengthened to 12,000 ft (3,658 m), designed to accommodate increased international traffic. However, while the airport has hosted Boeing 747s (and notably, the U.S. President's Air Force One), as of 2009, the largest aircraft to use the airport for regularly scheduled service are the Airbus A330-300s operated by Air Berlin on non stop flights to Düsseldorf. The 12,000 ft runway also serves as backup for the US Space Shuttle.
Midfield Terminal Complex Expansion
In 1988, the airport exceeded its annual capacity of 3 million passengers; by 2004, the airport was serving nearly 7 million passengers annually. The original terminal featured 19 gates on two concourses.
With the original terminal operating at more than double its intended capacity, construction of a new terminal dubbed the Midfield Terminal Complex began in February, 2002. The $438 million[1] terminal opened on September 9, 2005. The terminal has three concourses holding 28 gates, and can eventually be expanded to five concourses with 65 gates. Demolition of the former terminal, located north of the airfield, was completed in the spring of 2006.
Current and future projects
Currently, a new $30 million dollar airport rescue and firefighting facility is in the works and is scheduled for completion by the end of August 2011. In addition, a new 9100 ft parallel runway project will include a relocated air traffic control tower, apron expansion and crossfield taxiway system. The project is projected to cost $538.3 million dollars and its anticipated completion date is January 2015. Other projects include the Madden Research Loop, a 25 acre project consisting of a research complex for the fields of science, technology and medicine. This project is being developed by Gulf Coast Technology Center, Inc. and is expected to be completed in 2010.[2]
Plans are in place for a commercial and industrial park in the location of the old terminal, including airport-related business such as hotels and retail gasoline outlets.[3].
Facilities
Southwest Florida International Airport occupies 3,431 acres (13.88 km²), 10 mi (16 km) southeast of Fort Myers.[1]
- Runways[1]
- Runway 6/24: 12,000 x 150 ft (3,658 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
- Aircraft[2]
For the 12-month period ending December 31, 2008, the airport had 89,303 aircraft operations, an average of 244 per day.
- Terminal
- 798,000 ft² (243,230 m²)
- Design capacity is 10 million passengers per year, with 28 gates on 3 concourses (current B,C and D). The terminal buildings can be expanded incrementally to 65 gates on 5 concourses (A-E)
- Parking
- 11,250 spaces for hourly/daily parking
- 30-space "cell-phone lot" for customers picking up arriving passengers
Airlines and destinations
Southwest Florida International Airport has one terminal with three concourses: Concourse B (gates B1-B9), Concourse C (C1-C9), and Concourse D (gates D1 - D8, D9A-B, D10). Customs and Immigration services for international flights are located on the lower level of Concourse B. "Concourses A and E" designations have been reserved for the planned future expansion of the terminal.
| Airlines | Destinations | Concourse |
|---|---|---|
| Air Berlin | Düsseldorf | B |
| Air Canada | Montréal-Trudeau [seasonal], Toronto-Pearson | B |
| AirTran Airways | Akron/Canton [seasonal], Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston [seasonal], Buffalo [seasonal], Chicago-Midway [seasonal], Columbus, Flint [seasonal], Grand Rapids [begins June 12], Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Washington-Reagan | B |
| American Airlines | Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis [ends April 4] | D |
| American Eagle | Miami [begins April 6] | D |
| American Eagle operated by Executive Airlines | Miami | D |
| Cape Air | Key West | D |
| Continental Airlines (Ending Service By Summer 2010) | Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark | C |
| Continental Express operated by ExpressJet Airlines (Ending Service By Summer 2010) | Houston-Intercontinental | C |
| Delta Air Lines | Atlanta, Boston [seasonal], Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Detroit, Hartford/Springfield [seasonal], Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-La Guardia | C |
| Delta Connection Operated by Mesaba Airlines | Memphis [seasonal] | C |
| Frontier Airlines | Denver, Milwaukee [seasonal] | B |
| JetBlue Airways | Boston, Buffalo [seasonal], New York-JFK, Newark, White Plains | D |
| Midwest Airlines operated by Republic Airlines | Kansas City [seasonal] | B |
| Southwest Airlines | Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Long Island/Islip [begins March 14], Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis | D |
| Spirit Airlines | Atlantic City, Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit | B |
| Sun Country Airlines | Minneapolis/St. Paul [seasonal] | B |
| Sunwing Airlines | Toronto-Pearson [seasonal] | B |
| United Express operated by Shuttle America | Chicago-O'Hare, Washington-Dulles [seasonal] | B |
| USA3000 Airlines | Chicago-O'Hare, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky [seasonal], Cleveland, Philadelphia [ends April 4], St. Louis [seasonal] | B |
| US Airways | Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan [seasonal] | D |
| WestJet | Toronto-Pearson | B |
Crashes and incidents
- November 28, 2007 - A single-engine fixed wing aircraft crashed about 9:20 a.m. one mile (1.6 km) west of Runway 6. The crash killed the pilot. This is the first reported crash on airport property since the airport opened 25 years ago.[4]
- April 13, 2009 - After the only pilot on board a Super King Air carrying four passengers went unconscious and later died, a passenger, Doug White, was guided into the airport by air traffic controller Brian Norton who was assisted by controller Dan Favio. It was later reported that Doug White is a single engine private pilot with about 130 hours of experience in single engine aircraft. All passengers aboard survived and the plane was not damaged. [5]
References
- ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for RSW (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-07-05
- ^ http://flylcpa.com/monthlystats/
External links
- Southwest Florida International Airport (official site)
- Lee County Port Authority
- Page Field General Aviation Airport (formerly the primary airport in the area; now a general aviation airport)
- Southwest Florida International AirportPDF (361 KiB) brochure from CFASPP (October 2007)
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective 11 Feb 2010
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KRSW
- ASN accident history for RSW
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KRSW
- FAA current RSW delay information
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