2009 air traffic summary
| Airport |
2009
passengers |
Percent
change from 2008 |
| LAX |
56,520,843 |
-5.2 |
| SNA |
8,705,198 | -3.2 |
| BUR |
4,588,433 | -13.9 |
| ONT |
4,886,695 | -21.6 |
| LGB |
2,909,307 | -0.2 |
| PSP |
1,465,751 | -5.0 |
| SCAG
Region total |
||
| SAN |
16,778,666 |
-16.3 |
| SoCal
total |
Week of January 25 - 31, 2010
O.C.'s only international flights begin in April - OC Register
Air Canada announced it will begin flying non-stop between Orange County's John Wayne Airport and Toronto, Canada, on April 6.
The flight will be the only international service to and from Orange County and will require an innovative customs and immigration system for passengers departing Canada for the United States.
The Register priced roundtrip airfares during the first days of service in April. According to Air Canada's website, the cost will be $848 roundtrip for economy class service. That is nearly twice the airfare for connecting service between Orange County and Toronto offered by Continental ($441), Delta ($444) and American ($444) airlines.
The trade-off for the higher price will shorter trips. Air Canada's non-stop would shave about three hours off the flight time each way of the best connecting combination of flights offered by other airlines.
Website Editor: Alternatively, O.C. travelers can save money by taking a shuttle or cab to LAX and buying a round trip ticket on American Airlines for $450, tax included. The return flight from Toronto to JWA is an overnight red eye while the return to LAX comes in before 10 PM.
Irvine spending $19 per rider on city-run bus system - OC Register
The city spent nearly $19 per rider to keep the Irvine-run iShuttle on the road during the summer and fall months, as local leaders have scaled back the bus service to focus solely on commuter traffic.
Envisioned as an environmentally friendly way to reduce vehicular traffic and test the waters for a more comprehensive Irvine-wide transportation system, the iShuttle has yet to draw a following outside the commuter crowd. It connects the Tustin Train Station and John Wayne Airport via a pair of routes winding through the Irvine Business Complex, the city's largest employment area and urban core.
L.A.-area airports see drop in passenger traffic in 2009 - LA Times
The nation's economic downturn continued to pound the Los Angeles airport system in 2009, causing LAX to shed millions of passengers while the number at Ontario International Airport fell to a level not seen in two decades.
Figures released Tuesday by Los Angeles World Airports show that the passengers handled by LAX fell 5.5% from 59.8 million in 2008 to 56.5 million in 2009.
Meanwhile, Van Nuys Airport was knocked off its perch as the nation's busiest general-aviation facility by Deer Valley Airport outside Phoenix, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
"While I would rather have seen a 5.5% increase in growth, we had expected to end the year worse off than we were," said Gina Maria Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, which operates LAX, Ontario and Van Nuys.
Particularly hard hit by the recession has been Ontario International, where two decades of steady growth have been erased. The airport, which primarily serves the Inland Empire, suffered a 21.6% drop in passengers from 6.2 million in 2008 to 4.9 million in 2009.
Traffic down at Ontario airport - Press-Enterprise
The number of passengers using Ontario International Airport in 2009 was at its lowest level since 1988, a decade before two twin terminals that could hold 10 million passengers were built, according to airport statistics released Tuesday.
County urges LAWA to give up Palmdale airport - Santa Clarita Signal
Despite efforts by the city of Palmdale, supported by Los Angeles County, to assume control of the Palmdale Airport, Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) has refused to give up the airport terminal's lease, which continues in effect through 2011 -- although LAWA ceased commercial air operations at Palmdale Airport in Dec. 2008.
The [LA County] Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion by Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich requesting the Los Angeles city agency to release all contractual agreements regarding the Palmdale Regional Airport and terminal operations.
His motion also directs the county counsel to examine all necessary legal action to require LAWA to relinquish control of the airport to Palmdale.
S.D. Airport Authority adopts land use compatibility
The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, acting in its capacity as the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) for San Diego County, has adopted Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (ALUCPs) for five urban airports in San Diego County: Brown Field, Gillespie Field, Montgomery Field, McClellan-Palomar Airport and Oceanside Municipal Airport.
Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans are the fundamental tool used by an ALUC to fulfill its purpose of promoting land use compatibility around airports. The plans provide guidance to local jurisdictions and property owners about the types of new land uses that are appropriate around airports.
The adoption of the ALUCPs for the five urban airports is the culmination of a four-year public process.
ONT finishes punishing year
LA/Ontario Airport completed 2009 with a passenger count of 4,886,695. This was 21.6 percent fewer pasengers than in 2008.
In its best year, 2007, ONT saw 7,207,150 travelers use the inland airport.
LAX completes 2009 with travel down 5.5 percent.
LAX passenger travel rose by 3.6 percent in December when compared to the same month last year but finished 2009 down 5.5 percent from 2008. The total count for the year was 56,520,843 passengers.
For comparison, LAX saw 67,3030,182 passengers in 2000, its best year.
Week of January 18 - 24, 2009
Happier landings ahead - Press Telegram
Upcoming repair of Los Alamitos Airfield runway may lighten load at Long Beach airport.
The National Guard has secured $1.5 million to temporarily fix Los Alamitos Army Airfield's tattered main runway later this year, a development which may alleviate a recent influx of military cargo planes and fighter jets at Long Beach Airport.
The National Guard, which uses the 1,400-acre complex for troop training and housing and to accommodate government and military air fleets, says money to fix the site's heavy aircraft landing strip should be enough to maintain the runway properly for 5 to 7 more years. Work is expected to begin in the fall and last a few months.
Military operations at Long Beach Airport had increased by 48.5 percent from 2008, from 582 takeoffs and landings in 2008 to 864 in 2009. Much of the military and government increase is attributed to traffic from Los Alamitos, which handles such aircraft as Boeing's C-17, as well as Lockheed's C-130 and C-5 transporters and F-16 and F-18 fighter jets.
For its part, Long Beach has welcomed the increased military and government presence, despite a few complaints from neighbors regarding noise and late arrivals, which constituted about 1 percent of the airport's total noise complaint tally for 2009, according to airport records.
Burbank's November levels off
Burbank's Bob Hope Airport showed signs of a slowing decline in November. Passenger traffic was of by only 0.6 percent from November 2009.
For the year to date, the airport was off by 14.9 percent.
Week of January 11 - 17, 2010
JWA finishes 2009 with travel off by 3.2 percent
Orange County John Wayne Airport is the first regional airport to report 2009 results. The airport completed the calendar year with a passenger count of 8,705,199 or 3.2 percent less than in 2008.
JWA saw a 6.5 percent increase in travel volume in the month of December, its fifth up month is a row..
Under an agreement with Newport Beach, the airport can serve 10,300,000 passengers.
San Diego air travel up in November but still down for year
Passenger volume at San Diego's Lindbergh Field was up by 2.3 percent in November 2009 when compared to the prior year.
Year to date, traffic was still 7 percent behind that of 2008.
Los Angeles region air travel off by almost 8 percent in 2009
While final figures are not yet in for the region's six airports, it appears that 2009 passenger travel will end up almost 8 percent below 2008 levels.
That will make 2009 the worst local air travel year since 2002, when aviation was reeling from the initial impact of the 9-11 2001 terrorist attacks.
Long Beach airport traffic drops below 2008 in November
For 10 months of 2009, Long Beach airport passenger volume narrowly exceeded the level for 2008. It was the only area airport where volume held up. However, the airline industry slum finally caught up with LGB in November.
November 2009 traffic was 7 percent less than in November 2008.
As a result, for the 11 months ending November 30, total Long Beach volume was 2,672,290 passengers, a whisker less than the 2,673,250 reported at November 30, 2008.
Week of January 4 - January 10, 2010
A wish list for John Wayne Airport - OC Register
Travel Editor Gary Warner writes: John Wayne doesn't deserve a lump of coal in its stocking. It's more nice than naughty. A recent airport-sponsored poll showed most customers liked John Wayne. Me, too. Compared to the cattle pen of LAX, cute but claustrophobic Long Beach Airport or distant Ontario International, it's a winner.
But good isn't great. Here's what would help:
Faster, faster, faster lines.
More flights to Hawaii.
Non-stop flights to New York: And I don't mean Newark (sorry, Continental). If JetBlue can make a go with non-stops from Long Beach to New York, Boston and Washington, D.C., I'd like to see Orange County have a flight at least into JFK airport in New York. My candidate: Virgin America, which has the expansive aspirations to link OC to the real Gotham City. Website Editor: This is my repeated pet wish so I quote Warner's entire post.
Wi-fi in the terminal.
Great local eats in the terminal.
That's a start. What changes would you make at John Wayne Airport?
Airport labor agreement draws opposition at council meeting - Contra Costa Times
A labor agreement for airport terminal improvements that City Council members hope will create more local jobs met opposition Tuesday from groups who say such agreements only benefit unions.
The council voted 7-1 to have City Manager Pat West evaluate a potential Project Labor Agreement for the Long Beach Airport terminal improvement project, which is scheduled to begin by the end of this year and cost $35 million for the first phase.
Website Editor: Orange Country supervisors introduced a PLA for the El Toro airport as a move to buy union votes for the project. More recently the county moved to bar such agreements.
World's Largest Zeppelin Is Back at Long Beach - Press Release
Airship Ventures returns to southern California January 7th with extended stays each and every month thereafter through June 2010! Having sold out on many trips to So-Cal last year, Airship Ventures has decided to spend part of each month here - including Valentines Day and many holidays - to accommodate a seemingly insatiable crowd of travel enthusiasts.
LA travel dates and flightseeing tours are as follows:
2010 LA TRAVEL DATES:
January 7-18 (holidays include Martin Luther King Day/Jan. 18)
February 4-15 (holidays include Valentine's Day/Feb. 14 and President's Day/Feb. 15)
March 26-28, 31 (no holidays)
April 1-6, 15-27 (holidays/events include Easter, Long Beach Grand Prix, Earth Day)
May 6-18 (holidays include Mother's Day/May 9, Memorial Day/May 31)
June 24-27, 30 through July 5 (Independence Day Weekend)
LA-area flights will depart from the AirFlite FBO terminal (a.k.a. AirFlite Aviation Services), adjacent to the main terminal at Long Beach Airport (3250 Airflite Way, Long Beach, CA 90807, at Cherry and Wardlow).
Long Beach Airport implements security changes - Press-Telegram
Additional security measures have been implemented at Long Beach Airport, part of national response to an attempted bombing aboard a Detroit-bound flight on Christmas Day.
"TSA at Long Beach has a layered approach to security. Our checkpoints at Long Beach constitute only one security layer of many in place to protect aviation," said Nancy Baggott, federal security director at the Long Beach Airport. "This allows us to be collaborative in our approach by coordinating with our airline partners, law enforcement and airport operations to ensure aviation security remains strong."
Week of December 28 - January 3, 2010
San Diego sees rebound in November
Traffic at San Diego's Lindbergh Field was up 2.3 percent in November over the same month the previous year.
For the first eleven months of 2009, passenger volume remained 7.0 percent behind 2008.
LAX is permanently closing Parking Lot B - LA Times
Travelers who have left vehicles in long-term Parking Lot B at Los Angeles International Airport will have until Jan. 31 to remove them after the lot closes permanently on Thursday, airport officials said.
Public parking at the lot, at 111th Street and La Cienega Boulevard, is being consolidated with other lots. Travelers who use Lot B are encouraged to now park in Lot C, at 96th Street and Sepulveda Boulevard, just north of LAX, officials said.
Passengers returning to Lot B after Thursday will have to catch a Lot B/E shuttle on the upper level of the Central Terminal Area, by the Employee Shuttle Stop signs in front of each terminal.
