Ontario International Airport exceeds pre-pandemic travel levels for ninth straight month in November

Southern California’s Ontario International Airport exceeded pre-pandemic passenger volumes for the ninth consecutive month in November.

Southern California’s Ontario International Airport once again exceeded pre-pandemic passenger levels in November, extending its streak to nine consecutive months and edging closer to its busiest overall year since 2008.

The airport drew more than 512,000 air travelers last month with domestic and international volumes of more than 491,000 and 20,000, respectively. Domestic travel grew by 3.4%, while international travel was the highest for any single month since before the pandemic. The November total was 2% higher than the same month in 2019 and nearly 7% higher than last year.

On a year-to-date basis, more than 5.2 million passengers traveled through ONT, 3.8% more than the same period in 2019. The January-November total was 30% greater than in 2021. At this pace, Ontario will post its highest annual passenger level since 2008’s 6.2 million.

“November continued our run of strong growth on both passenger volume and cargo movement,” said Atif Elkadi, chief executive officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority. “While many airports continue to work toward restoring commercial air service to pre-pandemic levels, Ontario is showing month after month what full recovery looks like. The airport’s performance has been remarkable to say the least.”

Air cargo shipments totaled more than 74,000 tons in November, 10.3% greater than the same month in 2019. From January through November, ONT’s shipments of freight and mail totaled more than 761,000 tons, almost 10% higher than the first 11 months of 2019.

“Ontario experienced a double-digit increase in cargo in November compared with November 2019 and almost 10% on a year-to-date basis, further demonstrating its success as a cargo hub and importance to the Southern California economy,” Elkadi said.