In January, Long Beach Airport saw a rebound in passenger volumes following a slow December. Although passenger numbers were down 9.7% compared to January 2020, when almost every plane in the US was grounded due to the pandemic, 260,199 people traveled through the municipal airport.
December saw passenger volumes of 247,285, which was far below expectations due to Southwest mass cancellations during peak holiday travel.
Nationally, passenger volumes were within 1% of 2020 levels. In January, 60,548,344 people passed through U.S. Transportation Security Administration checkpoints compared to 61,172,421 during the same month in 2020.
Airport Director Cynthia Guidry stated that the airport expects stronger volumes starting in late spring and summer with the addition of new supplemental flight slots. Earlier this month, Southwest was awarded five additional flight slots at the noise-controlled airfield, bringing its total to 45 out of the airport’s allotted 58.
The carrier announced three additional daily, nonstop routes to Colorado Springs, El Paso, and Albuquerque, which will all begin this summer. Southwest also plans to bring back its seasonal daily, nonstop service to Maui next month and is adding a second daily flight to Dallas in June.