By the Caribbean Journal staff

Puerto Rico’s Rafael Hernandez International Airport in Aguadilla just set a record for passenger traffic in a calendar year.

Aguadilla is set on the northwest corner of the island of Puerto Rico.

The airport handled more than 600,000 passengers last year, the highest figure ever recorded at the airport — eclipsing the previous record of 519,751 passengers in 2016, according to Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello.

That increase meant an increase of more than $8.9 million in economic impact to the Porta del Sol area, the Governor said.

“I appreciate the work of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company that, together with other agencies, have made us today show ourselves to the world as an accessible, viable and developing tourist destination, ready to continue receiving the thousands of passengers that plan to visit us,” Rosselo said.

The record-breaking flight was a JetBlue flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Aguadilla has seen increased attention from major carriers in recent years, including new flights from Orlando on Spirit and an expansion to two daily flights from Fort Lauderdale on JetBlue.