Record Year for Passenger Traffic at Oakland International Airport in 2002 – Air Cargo Traffic, Aircraft Landed Weights and Commercial Airfield Oper.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cyndy Johnson, (510) 563-2820
Rosemary Barnes, (510) 563-2892
After Hours, (510) 563-3360

Oakland, CA, February 4, 2003 – Bucking national trends, passenger traffic at Oakland International Airport had double-digit growth in 2002, up 11.5 percent over the previous year to 12,723,777 passengers, despite the continuing weak economy and a severe downturn in the aviation industry financial picture. This was the first time in the airport’s 75-year history that it averaged a million passengers a month.

Air cargo traffic and aircraft landed weights also saw healthy increases in 2002. Air cargo traffic was up nearly 7 percent over the previous year, to 650,395 metric tons, while landed weights grew by 8 percent to 11.8 billion pounds. The number of commercial aircraft takeoffs and landings grew modestly to 178,853 operations, an increase of 1.4 percent.

In 2002, Oakland served 6,373,241 departing passengers (enplanements) and 6,350,536 arriving passengers (deplanements). According to statistics just released by the Air Transport Association (ATA), domestic enplanements were down 4.7 percent for the year. Oakland International finished the year with a healthy increase of nearly 12 percent in enplanements, making it one of the fastest growing airports in the U.S.

New airline service and new cargo requirements contributed to Oakland International Airport’s positive traffic results, said Steven J. Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland, which operates the airport.

“We are pleased with our strong growth, especially in comparison to the rest of the industry,” said Grossman. “Oakland International is now the second largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area, commanding a market share of 25 percent of the total number of passengers served, growing nearly four percentage points in one year. Passenger traffic is expected to grow at a slower pace in 2003 and we hope to finish the year with more than 13 million passengers.”

Five carriers launched new nonstop service from Oakland during 2002, including transcontinental flights to New York/JFK and Washington, D.C. and flights to Southern California and the Midwest.

The following is a list of service inaugurated or expanded at Oakland International Airport in 2002:

• American Airlines inaugurated three daily nonstop flights between Oakland and New York/JFK in March.
• Frontier Jet Express inaugurated twice-daily nonstop service to Denver in October.
• JetBlue Airways added two nonstop flights between Oakland and New York/JFK in March, bringing their total number of operations to the New York area to four a day. Also, JetBlue inaugurated twice-daily nonstop service to Washington, D.C. in May and seven daily nonstop flights to Southern California via their Long Beach hub in September.
• Southwest Airlines inaugurated three daily nonstop flights between Oakland and Chicago/Midway in April, bringing their total number of operations at Oakland to 122 daily flights.
• United Airlines inaugurated twice-daily nonstop service to Washington, D.C. in May.

Because of the addition of 21 daily flights in 2002, commercial aircraft takeoffs and landings also grew. Air cargo volumes were up in 2002 due to a new U.S. mail contract handled by FedEx and changes in the rules for carriage of freight and mail in the cargoholds of the passenger carriers. With more passenger and cargo traffic at Oakland last year, aircraft landed weights also increased.

Oakland International Airport has over 200 flights a day on 14 domestic and international carriers to 38 nonstop destinations, including Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., the Hawaiian Islands and Mexico. It is the regional distribution center and is the designated Pacific gateway for FedEx. The airport is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland, an independent department of the city of Oakland.

Oakland International consistently has the fewest weather-related flight delays in the Bay Area. It is the only Bay Area airport with a dedicated shuttle bus that meets every Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system train at the nearby Coliseum station. Travelers are reminded that the 98th Avenue corridor is open to both inbound and outbound traffic creating a fast, direct route to and from Interstate 880. For information on ground transportation and parking services, call 1-888-IFLYOAK (435-9625). Visit www.oaklandairport.com for additional information.

Domestic Scheduled Service:
Alaska, Aloha, American, America West, Continental, Delta/Delta Connection, Frontier Jet Express, JetBlue, Southwest, United/United Express

Domestic Charter Service:
SunTrips (Hawaii)

International Scheduled Service:
Allegro, Mexicana

International Charter Service:
SunTrips (Mexico, Portugal)

Major Cargo Carriers:
Airborne Express, Ameriflight, FedEx, United Parcel Service

# of Daily Departures:
242 (41 are all-cargo flights)

Passenger Facilities:
Two terminals (429,000 sq. ft), 24 boarding gates

Runways:
10,000-foot asphalt runway, can be extended to 11,600 feet
6,200-foot asphalt runway
5,020-foot asphalt runway
3,300-foot crosswind asphalt runway

# of Employees:
10,700 (2,200 are in cargo-related jobs)

Largest Airport Employers:
Southwest Airlines, 2,470 employees
FedEx, 1,700 employees
United Airlines, 1,500 employees