Ontario Airport Traffic Keeps Up

Passenger traffic at Ontario International Airport was steady during the first three months of this year.

More than 1.6 million passengers traveled through the airport from January to March, down only 0.27 percent from the first three months of 2005.

"The first quarter is the slowest quarter of the year for air travel," said Mark Thorpe, director of air service marketing for the airport. "Things really pick up in April and May and even more so in the summer."

Thorpe said part of the reason for the flat passenger traffic levels is because the airport hasn't undergone any significant capacity upgrades in some time.

"You can only have as many people in an airport as there are seats on planes," he said.

Thorpe said he's optimistic that passenger traffic will remain steady for the rest of 2006 but added that rising fuel costs are making flight expansion tough for the whole industry.

Over the last two months, most airlines raised ticket prices.

"Basically the cost of fuel is being passed along to the traveling public," he said. "And if passengers are willing to pay an extra $10 for a fuel surcharge, the airlines' outlook will improve, and they'll continue wanting to expand."

On Friday, the airport restarted its nonstop service to Hawaii on ATA Airlines Inc. Hawaiian Airlines canceled its service in 2004 when it had trouble selling enough tickets.

Thorpe said he's hoping the airport will soon be able to offer nonstop flights to other major cities nationwide, such as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and Boston, as well as Vancouver and Toronto. He said nonstop service to Chicago could be just around the corner.

Ontario finished 2005 with its strongest year in its history, breaking the 7 million-passenger mark for the first time.

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