Long Beach Airport passenger traffic remained extremely low in August but continues to inch upward month-over-month.

 

A total of 43,685 passengers traveled through the municipal airport in August, down 86.3% from the same month last year. Year-to-date passenger traffic is down nearly 65%, from more than 2.35 million passengers as of August 2019 to less than 828,000 so far this year.

 

While the figures remain indicative of the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on travel, they represent continued passenger traffic increases each month since bottoming out in April. In July, just over 40,400 passengers traveled through the airport—down 87.3% from July 2019.

 

The July to August increase of more than 3,200 passengers is far less drastic than the 16,200 passenger increase from June to July.

 

Total air cargo tonnage also remains low, down 39% in August compared to last year and more than 25% year-to-date.

 

Long Beach Airport began the year strong, with January and February passenger traffic up 9% and 11%, respectively, from last year. But numbers began to slip in March as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, with traffic decreasing 54% compared to the same month last year.

Brandon Richardson is a reporter and photojournalist for the Long Beach Post and Long Beach Business Journal.