IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Ontario International Airport got a double dose of good news in March.
The airport posted double-digit growth in its passenger count not just for the month but for the first quarter of 2023, according to data released Monday.
More than 501,000 air travelers passed through the airport during the third month of the year, a 10.4 percent increase compared with March 2022, the Ontario International Airpot Authority reported.
Domestic passengers topped 476,000 while the international traveler count hit increases of 8.4 percent and 70.7 percent respectively. That was the busiest March since 2008, when the airport handled nearly 607,000 passengers.
During the first three months of the year, Ontario International welcomed more than 1.3 million passengers, 16.6 percent more than the same period a year ago. Domestic and international totals increased by 14.7 percent and 67.5 percent, the authority reported.
“We are pleased with the sustained growth in passenger volumes experienced in the first quarter, which is on top of the full pandemic recovery that we achieved in 2022,” said Atif Elkadi, the airport authority’s chief executive officer, in a statement. “Our airport continues to serve our partner airlines and customers as demand for air travel increases.”
Cargo shipments – commercial freight and mail – reached 65,000 tons last month, a 10.3 percent drop year-over-year, the authority reported.
