Miami is just as big a cruise port, but that hasn't helped it out lately. The cruise port plays a part of it, but it is not the big picture. There are various reasons to thank for Fort Lauderdale's growth:
1) Low landing fees.
2) A huge O&D market.
3) Not as low-yielding as the rest of Florida; decent business traffic (even though the majority of business traffic still goes through
MIA)
4) The airport was pretty uncongested until lately.
5) Airlines are finally realzing how untapped the domestic market from South Florida is. It has largely been ignore in the past.
6) They don't have to worry as much about
AA, who protects
MIA like crazy.
7) The messy, construction hell that is
MIA. Since they are essentially building a brand-new airport on top of an old one, while the old one still operates, it is a logistical nightmare.
The new service at
FLL is great, simply incredible. However,
FLL has a very problematic future if expansion plans do not go ahead. And, so far, they have been unable to get a new runway plan approved. And, there is very little gate space as is. American, jetBlue, and US Airways are calmouring for more gates, but there are none to give.
The funny thing is that, as things are going, in four years,
MIA will be the easier to use airport, while
FLL will be a congested nightmare. Though
FLL's cheaper fees will keep
FLL the local LCC airport of choice and continue to spark its growth.
MIA will be restricted to the regular network carriers, and
AA and international carriers will be the driving factor behind future growth.