Southwest Florida International Airport – RSW
Southwest Florida International Airport is an international airport that serves Cape Coral and Fort Myers in Florida. Other areas served include the Naples-Macro Island and Punta Gorda. This major airport is owned by Lee County and is operated by the Lee County Port Authority. It is located in an unincorporated portion of Lee County, adjacent to Fort Worth. As of 2019, it is the second-busiest single runway airport in the United States following the San Diego International Airport. A second runway is set to open in 2020. In 2018, it handled 9.3 million passengers and over 82,000 aircraft operations. The airport operates under the airport code RSW and sits at an elevation of just 30 feet above mean sea level.
Best Time to Visit
The airport opened in 1983, in response to Page Field airport no longer being able to handle the influx of passengers and cargo. The original name for the airport was the Southwest Florida Regional Airport and its code RSW is short for Regional South-West. Delta Airlines operated the first flight. It was renamed to Southwest Florida International Airport in 1993, but even before that, the airport had already hosted a number of international flights. Upgrades and updates were constantly implemented throughout the 2000s, including the extension of the Terminal Access Road.
What to Do & Area Attractions
There are more than 240 hotels that are found near the airport or are easily accessible from Southwest Florida International Airport. The closest airport hotel is the Comfort Inn & Suites, which is less than a 10-minute drive away. Two other nearby hotels include La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Fort Myers and the Days Inn & Suites by Wyndham Fort Myers Near JetBlue Park. Both are less than 5 kilometers from the airport.
Alternate airports to Southwest Florida International Airport include the Naples Municipal Airport, located in Naples, Florida and the Charlotte County Airport, which is located in Punta Gorda.