ONT once again betters pre-pandemic passenger levels in April

The number of passengers passing through Southern California’s Ontario International Airport (ONT) last month was nearly 7% above the April 2019 total, beating pre-pandemic levels for the second straight month, officials announced today.

A total of 476,000 passengers used the gateway last month, 6.92% more than April three years ago. The number of domestic travellers increased by 9.65% to more than 461,000.

Passenger traffic increased by 4% in March compared with the same month in 2019.

“Demand for air travel through Ontario International remained strong in April as passengers took to the airways for spring break vacations and to visit friends and family for religious holidays,” said Alan Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Commissioners.

“Ontario International was rapidly growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is not a surprise that we’re among the quickest to recover.”

The latest figures mean that more than 1.62 million used the airport in the first four months of 2022, within a percentage point of total handled during the same period in 2019. The number of domestic passengers was 1.57 million, an increase of 1.6%.

Air cargo shipments also remained strong in April at 67,000 tons, 8.6% greater than April in 2019. On a year-to-date basis, shipments of freight and mail combined were 15.5% higher than the January through April period in 2019, at nearly 270,000 tons.

“Ontario International remains a point of pride as an increasingly popular passenger gateway in Southern California and attractive hub for e-commerce,” said ONT  CEO, Atif Elkadi.

“With our growing customer base in the Inland Empire, support of our community neighbours and strong political will of our city and and county leaders, I am confident Ontario International will continue to attract new and increased flights from passenger and cargo air carriers.”

You can find out more about ONT’s recover from COVID and plans for the future in the June/July issue of Airport World.