Travelers in and out of Iowa’s second busiest airport can soon expect to see additional direct flight connections to Florida.

Beginning Dec. 18, the Eastern Iowa Airport and Allegiant Air will offer direct service between Cedar Rapids and Punta Gorda/Fort Meyers, Florida.

The announcement was made official in a Tuesday news release by the airport.

Allegiant will introduce the new service with fares as low as $99.99 each way. To take advantage of the fare, tickets must be purchased by Aug. 6 for travel by Feb. 11, 2014. Two nonstop flights will be available each week.

Punta Gorda is roughly halfway between the white-sand beaches of Fort Myers and Sarasota’s island communities in southwest Florida.

The new direct connection marks Allegiant’s fifth nonstop destination from Cedar Rapids, joining Las Vegas, Orlando-Sanford, Phoenix-Mesa, and St. Petersburg/Tampa.

Serviced by Allegiant, American Eagle, Delta, Frontier, United Express, and chartered carriers, the Eastern Iowa Airport experienced record numbers of passengers in February, March, and April.

In 2012, the airport had 985,141 total passengers, a jump from the 880,645 experienced in 2011.

—By Quentin Misiag