Southwest Florida International Airport 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 Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Marco Island, Captiva Island, Bonita Springs 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 2011, total passengers numbered 7,537,745. The airport is one of the busiest single runway use airports in the country. It is also a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry.
LeeTran bus #50 serves the airport.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT 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 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, with a single 8400-ft runway. Delta Air Lines operated 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. 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 Düsseldorf.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LOCATION
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT FACTS
ICAO/IATA: KRSW/RSW
Lat: 26°32′10″N
Long: 081°45′19″W
Elevation: 30 ft.
Runway length available: 06/24 12000×150 ft.
