During a Charlotte County Airport Authority monthly meeting April 11, officials reviewed recent statistics, including a 37% year-over-year passenger increase in March.
Gary Duncan, director of operations for Punta Gorda Airport, said while March is the airport’s busiest month, this past March exceeded all other months and years, with 244,434 passengers.
He said there were more than 13,000 flights in March, “but the three-runway system works,” alluding to the addition of another runway, which was part of the airport’s expansion project.
Kaley Miller, director of marketing and communications, talked about PGD’s ranking compared to other airports and said it is the third least expensive airport in the U.S., which reflects the airport’s low-cost model airlines Allegiant and Sun Country.
Airport CEO James Parish said PGD also is ranked as one of the top 100 airports in the U.S.
He also talked about the ongoing airport expansion projects designed to accommodate the growing number of passengers and others who use the airport, and said he will be traveling to Washington, D.C., to entice other airlines to fly into PGD.
The Airport Authority can accommodate another airline as it has several runways, plans for terminal and amenities expansions and other improvements totaling $44.4 million.
Commissioner Robert Hancik told the board PGD has come a long way. Before 2011, 300,000 total passengers used the airport, and this past year 2 million passengers passed through, he said.
Following the meeting, CCAA board members, Parish and other officials, including representatives from the offices of Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Greg Steube, Federal Aviation Administration district representatives and contractors and staff from the project team, headed over to Taxiway G after a seven-month construction project that began in August 2023.
The $7.3 million project was designed by Kimley-Horn in 2023 and completed by Dickerson Infrastructure Construction in March 2024.
The project was 90% funded by the FAA’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. It is the first PGD project to receive funding under the BIL.
Taxiway G is essential to connecting Taxiway E to meet Taxiway A, providing a new connection to Runway 4-22 that did not previously exist.
