Passengers line up at Oakland International Airport, June 2021. Oakland International Airport passenger traffic has rocketed higher during 2021 and has climbed to its highest level in more than a year.
OAKLAND — Oakland International Airport passenger traffic has rocketed higher during 2021 and has climbed to its highest level in more than a year.
The East Bay’s airport accommodated about 893,700 arriving and departing passengers during July, which was up 11.3% from the 815,900 passengers the travel hub handled in June.
An improved economy, a relaxation of coronavirus-linked restrictions and business shutdowns, and increased airline activity have provided tailwinds for the upswing in Oakland airport passenger traffic.
Similarly, San Jose International Airport soared in July to its highest level of passenger activity since the outbreak of the coronavirus and the resulting business lockdowns.
Oakland airport has posted monthly increases in passenger activity for six consecutive months, a streak that began in February.
The July passenger activity for Oakland airport was the highest since January 2020, when the East Bay transportation facility handled 905,817 passengers.
The low point for Oakland airport in the wake of the coronavirus-spawned economic slump was in April 2020, when the travel complex handled just 45,800 passengers.
While the robust increase in passengers is encouraging, a travel slump just last fall and winter serves as a reminder that the outlook for Oakland airport remains fuzzy.
Traffic drooped at Oakland airport in November and December of 2020 as well as January 2021 after state and local government agencies reinstated some business shutdowns that they had previously eased.
Concerns over the Delta variant of the coronavirus could unleash renewed squeamishness on the part of passengers, which could in turn jolt airport activity.
In another twist that underscores Oakland’s passenger surge, Oakland airport travel activity has topped the number of passenger transits at San Jose airport for 16 straight months, a streak that began in April 2020.
This trend has made Oakland airport the Bay Area’s second-busiest air travel hub after San Francisco International Airport.
