New poll shows people want commercial service at Naples Airport

Published: Updated:
File photo: MGN

NAPLES, Fla.- A new poll shows the majority of people want commercial service at the Naples Airport.

“We had clear indication of what the community wants and that’s what we’re here for,” said Jim Rideoutte, chairman of the airport authority.

The Naples Airport Authority recently hired a consulting firm that polled 800 people in Collier County.
The results show 78 percent of them want commerical service at Naples Airport.

“The people who are for this, pushing this, don’t live under the flight path,” said Alan Parker, a Naples resident and co-manager of Naples Airport Watch.

Parker is concerned commercial airlines will try to bring in bigger planes, just like JetBlue tried to do in 2012.

“The planes are bigger, somewhat noisier and flying over our neighborhoods,” said Parker.

JetBlue eventually backed out because of outrage from the community. Rideoutte says bringing in larger planes is not the airport’s intention.

“We would not just say we are ready to raise the weight limit to anything,” said Rideoutte. “We’re not there.”

Instead, he says the poll is just the first step to see if the idea may take off with the airlines.

“There’s no guarantee,” said Rideoutte. “We may go through all this and strike out, but we can only give it an effort.”

The airport authority will vote on Thursday about what to do next with this data.

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