American Airlines is planning to restore commercial airline service to Naples airport in Florida. This is a move that’s always seemed to make sense, and that I’ve written about many times. Still, Naples – Charlotte flights, starting in December, are an experiment.
There’s significant local NIMBY opposition to service at the airport, which has a voluntary 10 p.m.–7 a.m. curfew and operates a noise complaint hotline.
- Local activists complain about flight paths, soot, safety, traffic volume, aircraft over schools and downtown, and whether the airport is compatible with the area’s residential character.
- There’s been an effort to move the airport since they cannot legally just close it. However, residents don’t actually support spending over $1.5 billion to do it.
- Florida enacted legislation that went into effect April 6, 2026, which changed the Naples Airport Authority board from city-appointed to Collier County voter-elected. That’s expected to make service easier. The city council has a beef with the change.
- A Naples Airport Authority conflict-assessment meeting is scheduled for May 26, 2026, to discuss whether city zoning authority over airport uses is preempted by federal law and whether the city can terminate or deem unenforceable the airport lease without FAA approval.
Enilria says the plan is for 3 daily Embraer E-170 aircraft. That surprises me. I would have expected Bombardier CR7s.
- Update: Service will be on CR7s operated by PSA Airlines.
The airport publishes a 75,000 pound operating limit and says aircraft exceeding 75,000 pounds maximum gross weight are prohibited, unless the aircraft’s paperwork is amended and a placard limits it to 75,000 as the maximum operating weight. I do not know whether this is ultimately enforceable, or whether the newly-freed airport authority will seek to enforce it.
E-170s generally have a maximum takeoff weight around 79,000 – 85,000 pounds, although I’ve found type certificate data for a 74,957 pound option, so it seems like they could conform to the rule with that aircraft if necessary.
American Airlines pulled its Miami Eagle flights out in late 2001 and US Airways Express ended Tampa flying in 2003. Delta Connection operated from Atlanta between 2004 and 2007. Elite Airways tried for a year and a half between October 2015 and March 2017. And JSX has seasonal winter scheduled charter flights from Westchester. JetBlue has looked at Embraer 190 service in the past.
During the pandemic, American’s former Chief Commerican Officer Vasu Raja said that head of network planning Brian Znotins was ‘flying around Mexico looking for any airport with a paved runway’. Close-in leisure destinations were booming. But you don’t even need to leave the country for Naples! And they have a paved runway! It’s far more convenient to some of the snowbirds on the West Coast of Florida, and to some of the resorts, than Fort Myers as well.
(HT: @crucker)
(Would be better if they used the XLR for Naples, Italy, instead…)
“See Naples, and then die.” – popularized by Goethe.
The most ridiculous possible future for Naples, Fl. Currently, Naples cannot support the vehicle traffic much less more vehicles to and from a very small airport. If it goes through, the air traffic passenger, once they’re on the ground, will need to start loving snail-paced road traffic and going nowhere fast. Naples is building and building without figuring out how the infrastructure can handle the extra people. Good luck!
@KR
And what about all the extra traffic on I-75 for those going to/from Naples to RSW or MIA? Just another NIMBY. The airport was there long before you.
@Mantis — Woah, that’s some pretty extensive SW FL knowledge… for someone who abandoned us and now lives in SE Asia… /s
In a part of Tucson, the area east of Campbell is older, not expensive houses. To the west in the best university in the state. Everybody living east of campus bought a house they knew was near the university. Many bought the house because of the proximity to the university. Does that stop the residents from complaing about crowds for sporting events or Spring Fling? Nope. I hate NIMBY types (but I don’t pretend I couldn’t be one).
Well, this would be wonderful! I live in NYC but play a few concerts in Naples each year. It’s annoying having to fly into RSW (and no lounges!). I’d consider a NYC-CLT flight with a connection to Naples over a nonstop NYC-RSW even if ultimately the total travel time is longer.
Seth
I have lived in Naples year round for the last 42 years. I have seen everybody from PBA (Provincetown Boston) to Piedmont to Pan Am Express to American Eagle as well as Delta Connection come and go here. When traveling with those carriers during their stints here it was just incredibly convenient for people sort of like going to a Publix, parking for free, then walking into the terminal steps away. Hopefully that experience lives on with the new service. While traffic here in season is bad all over Collier County I don’t see that being an issue on Airport Rd. Noise complaints ? Don’t take them all that seriously.
This was a lost opportunity for Jet blue. They’d been long rumored to be coming here. Naples which was once a mid-western cow pasture of residents is now a huge suburb of Boston hence Jet Blue would have done very well. American should do well in season but in the summer I wonder ? At some point they may want to enhance the service with some Eagle flights to Miami as they once did as there is a huge population here of Germans and Brits.
Restricted airspace over Residents Beach? Cleared to land then.
Meanwhile, Delta is opening a Sky Club in Fort Myers.
My parents used to live in Naples and I’ve fly down to visit in the winter, flying in and out of RSW. Never flew into the Naples airport. RSW is only a half hour away; I can’t imagine with the restrictions envisioned you’d get many direct flights into Naples. Where would they move Naples airport, even if they were willing to pay ? Its sprawled massively since the 90s; the only area with enough space at this point is bordering the Everglades. At that point, might as well keep flying into RSW.