Best and worst: Airport study ranks 19 Florida locations. See where RSW landed on the list

Flying to and from Florida has always been a popular option for travelers. This was never more evident than in 2022 when 137.6 million non-residents visited Florida in 2022. A total of 38% came to the Sunshine State by air. This was a 12.9% increase from 2021 and the largest number of visitors in the state’s history, according to a study by Floridarentals.com.

Floridarentals.com's website highlights deals and provides reviews for Florida vacation rentals, beach houses, and condo rentals.

Floridarentals.com indexed all 19 Florida-based airports, including two Southwest Florida airports, ranking each destination against 14 factors to receive a score out of 100.

Good news: RSW (Southwest Florida International) in Fort Myers came in at eighth best with a rating of 62.28.

Bad news: PGD (Punta Gorda Airport) in Charlotte County was revealed as the worst Florida airport getting a rating of 33.84.

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PGD was dinged in the study for three important factors:

• Delays for an average 21 minute 13 seconds flight delay time and an average 46 minute 24 seconds delay time due to the aircraft arriving late.

• The average cost of a one night hotel stay within 5 miles is $200.82.

• An average 24% of all operations are cancelled.

Other airports near Southwest Florida that travelers likely use to get here:

• No. 2 TPA-Tampa (69.97)

• No. 3 MIA-Miami (71.52)

• No. 7 SRQ-Sarasota/Bradenton (63.40 )

What airport in Florida was ranked No. 1 as the best overall travel experience?

The study ranked MLB (Melbourne International Airport) with a rating of 73.97. The airport only has:

• An average of 7 minutes and 45 seconds delay per flight.

• Only 2.03% of MLB airport’s operations are cancelled, 0.11% are diverted and 13.75% are delayed.

• There are 102 hotels within a 5-mile radius, with an average star rating of 3.33 costing and average $234.93 for one night.

Rankings: Which Florida airports are best/worst?

Here is the Floridarental.com ranking of 19 Florida airports:

Methodology: How the data was generated

All 19 Florida-based airports are ranked against 14 determining factors to receive a score out of 100.

Rankings are based on factors including: number of scheduled outbound direct flight destinations, average minutes delay per flight, average minutes delay due to weather, average minutes delay due to security, average minutes delay due to aircraft arriving late, average cost of hotels within 5 miles (for 1 night), and percentage of all operations cancelled, percentage of all operations delayed, percentage of all operations diverted, average star rating of hotels within 5 miles, average Booking.com rating of hotels within 5 miles, number of hotels within 5 miles.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida airports ranked for delays, cancellations, nearby hotels