ONT: passenger count down, freight volume up

Ontario International Airport’s passenger count fell 58.4 percent year-over-year in September, according to data released Wednesday.

Domestic passengers topped 191,000, while international travelers totaled more than 3,500, declines of 57 percent and 84.5 percent, respectively, the Ontario International Airport Authority reported.

During the first nine months of the year, 1.9 million passengers passed through Ontario International, a drop of 52.8 percent compared with the first nine months of 2019.

On the other side of the ledger, freight volume at Ontario International Airport rose 22.5 percent in September from September 2019, the sixth consecutive month cargo traffic has increased by more than 20 percent.

“Cargo continues to be a point of strength and pride for us as Ontario enjoys the fastest rate of growth among airports in the continental United States,” said Mark Thorpe, the airport authority’s chief executive officer, in the statement.