The number of passengers who traveled through Key West International Airport in 2022 nearly matched that of 2021, its best year on record.

The 2022 numbers fell short of 2021 by 4 percent for the year at a total of 1,422,061 passengers. These numbers are significant because of 2021’s unprecedented travel during Covid-19 recovery along with 2019’s record of 969,069 passengers thanks to growing service.

“By comparison, the 2022 numbers are quite impressive,” said Director of Airports Richard Strickland. “My staff continually works hard to keep operations running smooth which is crucial as we embark on the Concourse A project.”

EYW had a number of milestones in 2022 including:

• Unanimous approval from the Board of County Commissioners to build a 48,000 square foot second-level Concourse A.

• The successful sale of $41.34 million in Airport revenue bonds to finance a portion of the project.

• The award of nearly $70 million in grants to fund the Concourse A project. The largest portion of the grants was from the Florida Department of Transportation at $39.8 million, while the rest were a combination of Covid-19 Relief Grants, FAA Airport Improvement Program and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grant funds.

• A reported economic impact of $1.6 billion according to the Florida Department of Transportation, up from $857 million in its 2019 Economic Impact report.