SAN JOSE — Passenger activity at the airports in San Jose and Oakland is cruising at altitudes well below the heights where they soared before the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The deadly bug unleashed an array of economic ailments on the travel markets and the hotel sector in the Bay Area and worldwide.
Updated reports suggest that both San Jose International Airport and Oakland International Airport continue to struggle to reclaim their pre-coronavirus glory days.
During November, San Jose airport handled 1.03 million passengers while Oakland airport accommodated slightly fewer than 972,500 passengers, according to separate reports released by the aviation hubs.
Passenger activity during November was up 24.4% at San Jose airport compared with the same month in 2021, according to statistics that the South Bay airport posted.
Oakland airport’s passenger activity in November was up 24.4% from the same month in 2021, the East Bay airport reported.
Both airports for several months have been showing sturdy upswings in passenger activity at the travel centers.
Yet even with the improving trends, it’s clear that both airports have a long way to go to get back to where they were before the arrival of the coronavirus.
The shortfall in passengers becomes apparent in a comparison of the current yearly trends at San Jose and Oakland airports to 2019, the final year before the outbreak of the coronavirus, according to this news organization’s review of the passenger statistics for both aviation hubs.
Over the one-year period ending in November, San Jose International Airport handled 11.24 million passengers.
San Jose’s passenger activity for the most recent 12-month period was 28.2% below the airport’s all-time record of 15.65 million passengers in 2019.
During the 12 months that ended in November, Oakland International Airport accommodated 11.09 million passengers.
Oakland’s passenger levels over the most recent one-year period were 17.1% below the 13.38 million passengers it handled in 2019. Oakland’s all-time record came in 2018 when the airport handled 13.59 million passengers.
Still, the trends are hopeful, despite the shortfalls in activity compared to the peak years for the two airports.
San Jose airport handled only 4.71 million passengers in 2020, the first year of the coronavirus outbreak. In 2021, the airport handled 7.36 million passengers. San Jose’s 11.24 million passenger total over the one-year period ending in November was 52.7% higher than the 2021 total.
Oakland airport handled 4.62 million passengers in 2020 and 8.14 million passengers in 2021. This means Oakland’s most recent 12-month total of 11.09 million passengers was 36.2% higher than the 2021 amount.
The travel meltdown in December might wind up having a negative effect on passenger totals for last month, although those stats have yet to be released.
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