International traffic at John Wayne Airport plummeted in February, with total traffic also in decline as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the second half of the month.
International passengers totaling 7,000 on 60 flights dropped 46% and 57%, respectively year-over-year. All traffic dipped about 3% to 764,500 compared with the same month last year. Flights fell 9% to 19,400 from February 2019.
Year-to-date traffic is down 2.4% to 1.6 million passengers; flights are down 4.7% to 42,100. JWA generally sees an uptick or consistent numbers through the first half of the year and into the summer.
Commercial flights in February were down 7% to about 6,300. Commuter flights—scheduled flights on planes with fewer than 70 seats—increased 39% to 577 flights.
General aviation passengers, about 64% of total aircraft operations in February, dropped 11% to 12,500.
The three busiest airlines in August by passenger count were Southwest at 258,800; American at 126,600; and United with 117,100 passengers.
