OAKLAND — Passenger trips through Oakland International Airport soared during July compared with June, a hopeful sign that the aviation hub is overcoming coronavirus-linked woes, but activity remains far below last year’s levels, airport officials reported Tuesday.
An estimated 341,800 passengers traveled through Oakland airport in July, up about 34 percent from the 255,100 passengers who transited through the East Bay aviation hub during June.
Both numbers, however, were far below the number of passengers who traveled through the airport during the same periods of a year ago.
The comparisons to last year’s passenger travel trends serve as a grim reminder of the devastation unleashed by coronavirus-linked business shutdowns ordered by state and local government officials, as well the public’s general squeamishness about flying due to the deadly bug.
The July numbers were 72 percent below the 1.23 million passengers who traveled through Oakland International Airport in July 2019.
“While far from normal, in July we had a month-over-month uptick in traffic as airlines restored air service as well as the traffic benefits of the Independence Day holiday and a 31-day month,” said Bryant Francis, the Port of Oakland’s aviation director.
