Officials at Oakland International Airport released August traffic reports Sept. 29, revealing 10.5 percent passenger growth over August 2016. Total passengers increased from 1,110,385 in August 2016, to 1,226,648 this year. The increase was supported by 5.3 percent more flight operations and 7.3 percent more seats. Passenger traffic for the last 12 months increased 9.1 percent over the prior year.
Marking the 45th consecutive month of passenger gains, it was the second busiest month of passenger traffic recorded since August 2007, which is the busiest month on record at OAK. August is the sixth consecutive month of passenger traffic above 1,000,000 this year. A record 87,475 international passengers traveled via OAK during the month – a 155 percent increase over last year. Totals reflect a doubling of international passenger traffic by Norwegian, and new operations by Southwest, Volaris, LEVEL, and British Airways.
Domestic passenger volume increased by 5.9 percent in August, highlighted by a 40 percent increase in traffic by Spirit Airlines, which added summer seasonal flights between OAK and Baltimore/Washington DC, Detroit, Chicago-O’Hare, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Houston Bush Intercontinental Airport. In addition, Southwest Airlines added new transcontinental service to New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport.
Port of Oakland Director of Aviation, Bryant L. Francis stated, “We are extremely pleased with the continued strong passenger traffic increases at Oakland International, both domestically and internationally. We are encouraged to see a robust response to new transatlantic and transcontinental flights as we continue working to expand service offerings in key markets."
In the last year, Oakland has seen new international service to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos by Southwest, and London, Copenhagen, and Barcelona by Norwegian. British Airways and LEVEL also began service from OAK in the last year, to London and Barcelona, respectively. International passenger growth is expected to continue in 2018 with new service to Rome and Paris operated by Norwegian.
