Lakeland Linder International Airport has a billion-dollar-year

Lakeland Linder International Airport’s economic impact has taken off.

According to a recent study, Lakeland Linder’s impact on the local economy is on a rapid up-tick, generating $1.5 billion, a roughly 160% increase from 2019’s impact.

The leap can be attributed to the airport’s expansion to Amazon Air, NOAA, and even Draken International — worth millions of dollars.

Airport Director, Gene Conrad also mentions a 7-acre expansion project as well as further investments worth somewhere between seven + eight million dollars. To break down the current impact, here are the results by the numbers:

• $1.5 billion — That’s the total amount generated by the economic impact
• $1.3 billion — That’s the amount generated that benefitted the airport directly (85%)
• $125 million — That’s how much visitor spending brought to the airport
• 1,100 — The number of employees, roughly, that Amazon Air brought to Lakeland
• 582 — The number of employees that Publix contributed 
• 300 — Draken International’s employee contribution
• 108 — The number of employees at the airport as a direct result of NOAA