First Monrach flight arrives in Fort Myers, many passangers to use Fort Myers Vacation Homes
Representatives from Universal Vacations were at RSW on Tuesday afternoon to greet the new Monarch flight arriving
Passengers
ready to play on the beach poured from Southwest Florida International’s first
nonstop flight from Denmark Tuesday afternoon.
“Maybe we can still get in a swim,” said Helle Laursen, 43, shortly after arriving with husband Finn and daughters Lisa, 13, and Ida, 11.
The family hails from a “little town” near Vejle, Denmark. The scheduled chartered flight departed from Aalborg, Denmark’s fourth-biggest
city, and touched down at the local airport at 5:03 p.m. All but two passenger
seats on the 358-seat A330 aircraft were filled. After
clearing U.S. Customs, passengers got a welcome from local business people. Volunteer
“tourism ambassadors” plied them with bottles of orange juice and
copies of Lonely Planet’s “Discover The Beaches of Fort Myers &
Sanibel” visitor guide.
Comefly, the Copenhagen-based startup tour operator organizing the once-weekly chartered
flights, is testing the waters for summer service the next four weeks.
Shortly after arriving on the inaugural flight, Comefly CEO Steen Normann said he’s
working on an agreement with Monarch Airlines to provide service between Fort
Myers and Denmark from Dec. 19 through Easter 2012.
Southwest Florida International is the first Florida airport to have nonstop service to
Denmark. It’s one of only six airports in the United States, according to Lee
County Port Authority.
If service from Denmark takes hold, it would be Southwest Florida International’s
fourth nonstop destination. The airport has year-round nonstop service to
Dusseldorf, Germany and Toronto, and winter-season service to Montreal.
Lee and Collier county tourism bureaus don’t track Danish visitors specifically.
However, Lee’s Visitor & Convention Bureau estimated about 23,000 from
Scandinavia visited in 2009. Statewide, an estimated 337,000 Scandinavians
arrived in 2010.
Lee visitor bureau deputy director Woodrow “Woody” Peek Jr. traveled to
the airport to greet the Comefly arrival. Said Peek: “Anytime we can get a
nonstop from Fort Myers, it opens new markets for us.
Peek acknowledged the visitors would not stay exclusively in Lee County, but noted
he’s optimistic. “We’ll get our fair share.” would be Southwest Florida International’s fourth nonstop destination.
The airport has year-round nonstop service to Dusseldorf, Germany and Toronto, and
winter-season service to Montreal.
Lee and Collier county tourism bureaus don’t track Danish visitors specifically.
However, Lee’s Visitor & Convention Bureau estimated about 23,000 from
Scandinavia visited in 2009. Statewide, an estimated 337,000 Scandinavians
arrived in 2010.
Lee visitor bureau deputy director Woodrow “Woody” Peek Jr. traveled to
the airport to greet the Comefly arrival. Said Peek: “Anytime we can get a
nonstop from Fort Myers, it opens new markets for us.”
