The coronavirus made its impact felt at Orlando International Airport (MCO) in March with a 47 percent drop in traffic.
Despite the dramatic monthly plunge in traffic, on a rolling 12-month basis, MCO managed to squeak out an overall gain in passengers of 1.13 percent compared to this time last year.
“The first negative impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic were felt in March, the first month Central Florida battled the virus,” said Phil Brown, Chief Executive Officer of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. “While we’re pleased we were able to record even a small overall gain, we are committed to rebuilding traveler confidence and providing a clean and safe environment for every single passenger visiting our world-class airport and region.”
Contributing to the slim increase was a record-breaking spring break travel season for the first week of the month before coronavirus related travel restrictions and shelter-in-place rules took effect.
March 2020 Statistical Data:
- For the month, international traffic declined 53.61 percent with a total of 302,867 passengers
- Domestic passenger volume fell 46.47 percent in March with 2,205,382 passengers arriving and departing MCO
- Overall traffic was down 47.45 percent for the month with a total of 2,508,249 passengers
- On a rolling 12-month basis international traffic was down 1.11 percent with 6,772,095 total passengers
- Domestic passenger volume on a rolling 12-month total was up 1.49 percent to 42,244,655 passengers
- Overall traffic on a 12-month rolling total was up 1.13 percent with 49,016,750 passengers at MCO
