Mid-2023 Brings Boost in Air Travel on US West Coast

Passenger traffic totals at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in July 2023 reached 7.308 million, representing a 15.17% increase compared to the same period in 2022, according to the latest data released by Los Angeles World Airports, the owner-operator of LAX and Van Nuys Airport.

These figures demonstrate a trend of recovery, following the pandemic’s peak when numbers dropped by 82.01% in July 2020 versus July 2019. Pre-pandemic travel at LAX from January 2019 to July 2019 saw 51.519 million passengers, which is 8.561 million more than January 2023 to July 2023 at 42.951 million passengers.

In the first seven months of 2023, LAX saw a 15.97% increase in passenger volumes compared to 2022. International travel for LAX in July 2023 was 2.26 million passengers, which is up 23.77% year-over-year compared to July 2022’s global travel volumes at 1.82 million. Domestic travel for July totaled 5.045 million passengers, rising 11.68% compared to July 2022’s 4.517 million passengers. 

However, air freight cargo volumes for LAX during July 2023 were down by almost 24% versus July 2022, according to the data.

San Francisco International Airport has seen a steady increase in passenger traffic over the last few years, with a 17.6% growth to 4.968 million in July 2023 from 4.226 million in July 2022.

The pandemic had a significant impact on passenger volume at SFO, with July 2020 seeing an 86.4% decline in passenger traffic compared to pre-pandemic July 2019. Domestic travel was hit particularly hard, experiencing an 83% drop during the pandemic, while international travel out of San Francisco declined by 95.3%. 

However, San Francisco International Airport bounced back in 2022 with a 54.7% increase in passenger traffic from 2.73 million travelers in 2021 to 4.226 million in 2022. And the trend continued in 2023, with another 17.6% increase in passenger traffic to 4.968 million passengers.

Portland International Airport experienced a significant decline in passenger traffic during the pandemic, with a 63% decrease in total passengers from 2019 to 2020. 

However, the airport has begun to recover in recent years with a rebound in total passengers to 1.703 million in 2021 and 1.98 million in 2022. 

In July 2023, the total number of air passengers at Portland International Airport increased by 13.38% from the previous year, with 275,515 passengers. Year-to-date, the total number of passengers has increased by 10.49% from January to August 2022 to January to August 2023.