LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) served 3 million more passengers in the first half of 2004 than in the same period last year.
For the first six months of 2004, passenger traffic totaled 29,362,446 -- an 11.7 increase over the same period last year when LAX served 26,306,305.
LAX passenger traffic in June was up 14.1 percent to 5,559,109 passengers compared with June 2003 as international traffic soared 20.4 percent and domestic traffic increased 11.6 percent.
At Ontario International Airport (ONT), passenger traffic in June reached 626,235 -- up 5.8 percent compared with June 2003. ONT's passenger traffic totaled 3,397,448 during the first half of 2004, up 6.3 percent compared to the same period in 2003.
"Passenger traffic in June continued to build momentum as our airports headed into the busiest travel months of the year," said Kim Day, LAWA interim executive director. "Clearly, the recovery from the impacts of 9/11 is well underway and gaining momentum. This is good news for our airports, the City and the Southern California economy."
LAX expects to serve at least 60 million passengers in 2004, compared with 54.8 million last year. The peak travel year was 2000, when 67 million passengers used LAX. ONT is expected to serve about seven million passengers this year, which would surpass the previous record of 6.7 million set in 2000.
Air Cargo Increases
Air cargo (freight and mail) volume at LAX in June totaled 171,854 -- up one percent over June last year. For the first six months of this year, air cargo at LAX grew to 1,015,699 tons -- 3.6 percent higher than during the same period in 2003.
Air cargo (freight and mail) volume at ONT in June was 48,563 tons -- 1.3 percent less than June of last year. However, year-to-date air cargo volume at ONT is 301,591 tons -- 10.1 percent higher than the same period last year.