People continued to return to the skies via Oakland International Airport in 2022, but passenger volume didn’t quite reach pre-pandemic levels.
Airport officials reported Monday that more than 11 million passengers flew into or out of Oakland in 2022, a significant increase of 36.7 percent compared to 2021. However, that’s a little over 83 percent of pre-pandemic levels from 2019.
While passenger volumes increased in 2022, cargo volume dropped slightly from 1.4 billion pounds in 2021 to 1.3 billion pounds.
“We see that growth in our passenger traffic levels, as well as in the improvement of our airfield and terminal facilities,” said Port of Oakland director of aviation Bryant Francis.
Last year, the airport added new passenger service to San Diego on Spirit Airlines, seasonal Kailua-Kona flights on Hawaiian Airlines and expects to add a new route in March to San Salvador, El Salvador.
In 2022, the airport added six new restaurants, completed taxiway and dike improvement projects and received $15.4 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for environmental programs, passenger amenities and security upgrades, according to airport officials.
