John Wayne Airport reported boosts in passenger traffic and flights for March.
It was the second-straight month of increases in both categories, and the rate of the gains in March exceeded February’s growth.
The airport handled 832,000 passengers last month compared with the same period last year, an increase of 7%. Passenger traffic increased 5.5% in February.
Commercial flights grew 2% to about 3,300 in March. That followed a gain of about 1% in February.
Airport spokesperson Jenny Wedge attributed the March increases to new activity by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines—which began flying to its home city from John Wayne in November. An increase in passenger totals for Seattle-based Alaska Airlines also contributed to the gain in March, she said.
International passenger counts were down 15% in March.
Southwest and Alaska are set to increase their numbers in that arena, as well.
Southwest plans to begin flights from JWA to Puerto Vallarta in June—it now flies to Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City from here.
Alaska plans to begin flying to Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos in October.
The three busiest operators at John Wayne Airport in March were Southwest, with 365,000 passengers; American, with 113,000; and United, with 111,000 passengers.
The three combined for 71% of the airport’s total passenger count in March.
