Last year more than 300,000 passengers travelled through the Punta Gorda Airport, most via Direct Air, which provides service to small airports located near major metropolitan areas in Florida, the Northeast and the Midwest.

Service to Plattsburgh, New York, is very convenient for people from Montreal, Quebec. Louisa Aquino, travelling with three young children, had been booked on a Wednesday morning flight.

“I’m disappointed and kind of angry that they didn’t give us any notice, to leave us stranded like this,” she said.

“It’s very nice to reimburse our credit card but it doesn’t help us at this point. I wish they’d found us an alternative – a way to get home.”

A number of travelers were renting cars to drive home. Outside the terminal, Barbara Bommarito of Port Charlotte was dropping off friends who were picking up a car to drive to Kalamazoo, Michigan, another city served by Direct. She said the discount airline’s flight suspension also impacts her travel plans for later this year.

“Now we’re going to have to try to get our money back. I can only we hope we can,” she said. “I like this airline, I like the convenience of it being right here -- it goes to the places we like to go.”

A notice posted at the airport advising travelers to contact their credit card company for a ticket refund was the only Direct Air presence.

Airport Manager Gary Quill said the airline recently had trouble paying its fuel bill. So, he wasn’t completely completed surprised when it suspended service Tuesday, saying it would resume May 15. He said the impact on tourism in Charlotte County could be significant, following a recent surge in tourist tax revenue.

“We’ve had indications from hotel owners that their occupancy level pretty closely tracks our traffic level here at the airport so there is unfortunately going to be an impact,” he said.

Quill also said jobs at the airport will be lost -- including ground support crew for the airline, rental car agents and TSA personnel. On the plus side, Allegiant Air is still flying out of Punta Gorda. Quill hopes it expands service. And, he said a proven track record of the 300,000 passengers last year should help attract another carrier.