Oakland International Punctuates Growth Trend with Strong Start to 2017

With a record number of destinations, increased flight options, and terminal renovations underway, traffic at Oakland International Airport (OAK) continues to trend upward into 2017. January reports indicate total passenger traffic reached 908,898 for the month, up 7.8 percent from 843,073 total passengers in January 2016.  This constitutes the 38th consecutive month of year-over-year passenger traffic growth for Oakland International.

A 39 percent increase in international passenger traffic is mainly attributed to Norwegian Air Shuttle, which commenced service to London-Gatwick last year and increased frequencies to Stockholm this winter. The airline continues to grow at OAK with the start of service to Copenhagen in March and Barcelona in June.

Bryant L. Francis, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland said, “We are very pleased to have had such a strong start to 2017, and that we’ve been able to maintain the momentum experienced in 2016.  More than a half dozen new routes are recently underway or are soon to begin.” Adding, "The effort to develop sustainable and successful growth with our airline partners is never ending, and we are particularly focused on the high-demand east coast and midwest destinations which are under-served from the East Bay.”

The airport, along with its airline partners, has announced several upcoming new and expanded routes, including Copenhagen, Baltimore, Detroit, Newark/New York, Barcelona, and – beginning March 28 – London-Gatwick on OAK’s newest carrier, British Airways.  New service on Southwest – its first ever international flights from the Bay Area – began this month to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos, Mexico.