The Punta Gorda Airport is the Punta Gorda Airport

Mural of Laishley Marina in Punta Gorda in the Punta Gorda Airport

Back in July hoping to attract more airlines and raise Punta Gorda's profile as a destination, the Charlotte County Airport was renamed the Punta Gorda Airport. The county Airport Authority approved the change in a 5-0 vote on July 15, 2010.   Despite this name change the airport continues to be referred to as the Charlotte County Airport even on the website of the airport itself.

At the time of the change I thought how smart a marketing change this was.  Not only did it make the name conform to a standard held for most airports in the country and most airline systems (both Direct Air and Allegiant refer to Punta Gorda in their destination selections),  but, as was pointed out at the time, Punta Gorda has a destination ring to it -- after all it has been a winter destination for over a century. Both Becky Bovell, Director of the Visitors Bureau at the time, and John Wright, President of the Punta Gorda Chamber of Commerce,  endorsed the change as a marketing tool.  Only Bob Starr, Charlotte County Commissioner had an issue with it.

Now it is getting close for the air show in Punta Gorda, the Florida International Air Show,  and I see on their website -- Charlotte County Airport.  No, can't be.  So  I talked to the Mayor of Punta Gorda just to confirm that the Punta Gorda Airport was indeed the Punta Gorda Airport.  And the Mayor replied "the name of the airport is the Punta Gorda Airport. It has NOT been changed back to Charlotte County Airport."  He also immediately called the Air Show Director and the terrific person in charge of publicity, Lindsey Barfield, who maintains the site changed the Air Show website to reflect the correct name of the Punta Gorda Airport immediately.  The Airport Administration has also been notified of this issue by the Mayor.

Bottomline, the Punta Gorda Airport is the Punta Gorda Airport.