Illustration by Sinelab

We all knew air travel was going to take a nosedive. We were just waiting to see how far it would go.

Nationwide, passenger counts in April were down about 96% due to the threat of coronavirus, according to the Transportation Security Administration, and that’s been reflected locally. Page Field and the Naples Airport each saw dips of almost 50% in their incoming and outgoing flights in April compared to the previous April. Southwest Florida International Airport had 53,379 passengers pass through in April, a nearly 95% dip from the previous April. That’s the lowest number of total passengers in a month since September 1983, the same year the airport opened.

More than 10.2 million people traveled through RSW in 2019, the most ever for the airport. Total passenger numbers won’t be that high this year, leaving the question of when that record will be broken again up in the air.