Orlando International Airport severely affected by the choroanvirus pandemic

ORLANDO, Fla. – It should be a holiday weekend at Orlando International Airport, but airport authorities said air traffic has been reduced due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Phil Brown, CEO of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, joined Justin Warmoth on “The Weekly on ClickOrlando.com” on Sunday to discuss how the airport has been affected.

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“At one point, we were down to 1,500 people a day and a 96-97% reduction,” Brown said.

Brown said the numbers are slowing, but that it is not close to the number of passengers before the pandemic.

“Our best estimate at the moment is that at the end of our fiscal year, which is September 30, we will have around 27 million passengers a year, which will represent a 45 to 50% reduction from the previous year,” he said.

Brown tells News 6 that fewer travelers mean big impacts on OIA’s revenue streams.

“72% of our 2019 operating income came from rental cars, parking lots and concessions and these have been at minimal levels,” said Brown.

He hopes that more people will visit Central Florida as the theme parks reopen at partial capacity, including Walt Disney World later this week. But Brown is concerned that some may choose other ways to travel.

“The decision you are seeing is whether I get on an aluminum tube with a group of other people I don’t know, or get on a family car and drive and have a day or two more.” he said.

Brown said the airport hopes to gain passenger trust with robust cleaning, offering contactless transactions, requiring passengers and employees to wear masks, and practicing CDC guidelines. He adds that they are doing everything possible to make people feel safe and comfortable.

“Until consumer confidence is restored with the flight, reinstalled, we expect to see an increase, but we won’t see the types of increases we saw in February or January last year,” Brown said. said.