Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) is a Top U.S. Airport for Holiday Traffic Surge

Southwest Florida International Airport (RSW) in Fort Myers has firmly established itself as a regional travel nexus, particularly during the peak holiday season. While many large metropolitan airports struggle with high volume, a recent analysis pinpointed RSW as the facility with the largest percentage increase in average daily passenger traffic among all midsize hub airports across the United States.

This massive passenger influx is transforming the holiday travel experience in Southwest Florida. During the 2024 holiday window—the crucial period spanning Thanksgiving through the New Year—RSW saw an average of 20,366 passengers per day. This figure represents a staggering 26% surge in daily volume compared to the airport’s non-holiday traffic average of 16,169 passengers. This explosive growth places the facility well ahead of its peers, highlighting the region's increasing popularity as both a tourist destination and a preferred travel gateway.

The holiday crowds are not an isolated event but rather the peak of a sustained, record-breaking expansion at the airport. RSW has continually reported historic numbers in 2025, signaling that the airport is operating at capacity levels unseen in its past.

In October 2025 alone, 774,689 passengers passed through Southwest Florida International Airport. This set a new benchmark for the facility, representing an impressive 18% increase over the traffic seen during October of the previous year. Looking back further, December 2024 was marked as the busiest December in the airport’s 42-year history. That month's activity contributed to a record-shattering year-end total of over 11 million passengers, marking a 6.6% increase compared to 2022’s numbers. Steven Hennigan, the airport's executive director and CEO, publicly acknowledged the importance of staff and business partners in supporting this enormous, record-breaking traffic, as travelers continue to choose RSW as their preferred airport.

RSW's local records are a microcosm of a much larger, national travel boom. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had already forecasted the 2025 Thanksgiving travel period to be the busiest in 15 years, with more than 360,000 flights scheduled across the country during the holiday window.

The rush home following the Thanksgiving celebrations further underscored this trend. The Sunday after Thanksgiving, November 30, 2025, set a new historical record, becoming the busiest single day ever at U.S. airports, with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screening more than 3.1 million passengers.

Within Florida, the travel numbers were equally massive. AAA projected that 4.65 million Floridians would travel at least 50 miles from home for the Thanksgiving holiday, making the Sunshine State one of the most active regions for both air and road travel.

As the region braces for the high-volume Christmas and New Year period, the persistent crowding at RSW confirms its critical and growing role in the U.S. air travel network. The sustained pressure on the terminal necessitates that travelers prepare for heavy congestion, arrive early, and exercise patience when navigating what has become one of the busiest regional airports in the nation.