Southwest Florida International Airport

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"RSW" redirects here. For other uses, see RSW (disambiguation).
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°32′10″N 081°45′19″W / 26.53611°N 81.75528°W / 26.53611; -81.75528
Website www.flylcpa.com
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
6/24 12,000 (BACK-UP SPACE SHUTTLE RUNWAY) 3,658 Asphalt
(6R/24L) (9,100) (2,774) (in planning stage)[Estimated completion date 1/2/2015]
Statistics (2008)
Aircraft operations 89,303
Source: Federal Aviation Administration[1]
Southwest Florida International Airport Terminal

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 and Naples.

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.

LeeTran bus #50 serves the airport.

Contents

[edit] 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 Dusseldorf. The 12,000 Ft runway also serves as backup for the US Space shuttle.

FAA diagram for Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW)

[edit] Midfield Terminal Complex Expansion

Southwest Florida International Airport Terminal

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. A second runway south of the midfield terminal will be built in the coming years.

Southwest Florida International is also a US Customs and Border Protection, Port of Entry.

Demolition of the former terminal, located north of the airfield, was completed in the spring of 2006. Plans are in place for a commercial and industrial park in that location, including airport-related business such as hotels and retail gasoline outlets.[2]

[edit] Facilities

RSW East Atrium

Southwest Florida International Airport occupies 3,431 acres (13.88 km²), 10 mi (16 km) southeast of Fort Myers.[1]

Runways[1]
  • Runway 6L/24R: 12,000 x 150 ft (3,658 x 46 m), Surface: Asphalt
  • Runway 6R/24L: In planning stage, Estimated completion date 1/2/2015
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

[edit] Airlines and destinations

RSW Main Terminal

Southwest Florida International Airport has one terminal with three concourses, two with nine gates and one with ten gates. "Concourses A and E" designations have been reserved for the planned future expansion of the terminal.

[edit] Concourse B

Customs and Immigration services are located on the lower level of Concourse B.

Concourse B has 9 Gates: B1 - B9

Airlines Destinations
Air Berlin Düsseldorf
Air Canada Toronto-Pearson
AirTran Airways Akron/Canton [seasonal], Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston [seasonal], Buffalo, Chicago-Midway [seasonal], Columbus, Flint [seasonal], Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh [seasonal], Washington-Reagan
Midwest Airlines Milwaukee [seasonal]
Spirit Airlines Atlantic City, Chicago-O'Hare, Detroit
Sun Country Airlines Minneapolis/St. Paul [seasonal]
Sunwing Airlines Toronto-Pearson
United Airlines Chicago-O'Hare
USA3000 Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis
WestJet Toronto-Pearson

[edit] Concourse C

Concourse C has 9 Gates: C1 - C9

Airlines Destinations
Continental Airlines Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark
Delta Air Lines Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Hartford/Springfield [seasonal]
Northwest Airlines Detroit, Flint [seasonal], Indianapolis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis [seasonal], New York-La Guardia

[edit] Concourse D

Concourse D has 10 Gates: D1 - D8, D9A-B, D10

Airlines Destinations
American Airlines Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, St. Louis [begins November 19]
American Eagle Miami
Continental Connection operated by Cape Air Key West, Marathon
JetBlue Airways Boston, Buffalo [seasonal], New York-JFK, Newark, Washington-Dulles [seasonal], White Plains
Southwest Airlines Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis
US Airways Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-Reagan

[edit] 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.[3]
  • 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 the Doug White is a single engine private pilot with about 130 hours of experience in Cessnas. All passengers aboard survived and the plane was not damaged. [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c FAA Airport Master Record for RSW (Form 5010 PDF), effective 2007-07-05
  2. ^ http://flylcpa.com/monthlystats/

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Florida_International_Airport"
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