Record Year for Passenger Traffic at Oakland International Airport in 2003

Oakland, CA, – Oakland International Airport (OAK) continued to experience passenger traffic growth in 2003, up 7.2 percent over the previous year to 13,548,363 passengers. This marks OAK’s seventh consecutive year of growth, despite significant events in 2003 such as the outbreak of SARS, the war in Iraq, and an economy that showed only slight signs of improvement.

In 2003, OAK served 6,779,298 departing passengers (enplanements) and 6,769,065 arriving passengers (deplanements). OAK is the only Bay Area airport that experienced growth in 2003, allowing it to maintain its standing as the second largest, commanding a 25.6 percent market share of the total number of Bay Area passengers served.

“New airline service and frequency expansion by existing airlines contributed to OAK’s positive passenger traffic,” said Steven J. Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland, which operates the airport.

“Oakland International’s continued strong growth in 2003 is the very reason for the terminal improvement program,” said Grossman. “Airport staff is eager to begin the renovation and addition of five new gates in Terminal 2 so that travelers can enjoy more modern, convenient and comfortable facilities.”

Grossman added that airport facilities have reached operational capacity, and he expects that passenger traffic will grow at a more modest rate in 2004.

OAK expects to finish 2004 with about 14 million passengers served, another airport milestone.

Two carriers launched new nonstop service from OAK during 2003 and all airlines added frequency to existing destinations, whether on a seasonal basis or for a longer duration. The following is a list of service inaugurated or expanded at OAK in 2003:

- Alaska Airlines added one daily nonstop flight to Seattle in June.

- Aloha Airlines expanded its operation for the summer season by increasing its four times per week nonstop service to Kona, Hawaii to a daily flight and adding nonstop service to Lihue, Kauai in June.

- America West added a second nonstop flight to Las Vegas in October.

- American Airlines added a fifth and sixth daily flight to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport in April and December, respectively.

- Continental Airlines added a third daily flight to Houston in June.

- Delta Air Lines added two nonstop flights to Atlanta for a total of three in October.

- Horizon Air inaugurated a daily nonstop flight to Sun Valley, Idaho. This seasonal service to the world-famous ski resort began in December and is scheduled to operate through March 28, 2004.

- JetBlue Airways added nonstop flights to New York/JFK bringing their total number of operations to the New York area to six a day.

- Mexicana Airlines began a new daytime flight, operating four times per week to Guadalajara in May.

- SunTrips inaugurated seasonal service to San Jose, Costa Rica with a weekly nonstop flight from June to August.

- United Airlines added a fourth flight to Chicago/O’Hare in May and two more flights in July to its Denver hub.

Fewer charter and cargo flights resulted in decreased aircraft operations in 2003. The number of commercial aircraft takeoffs and landings was down slightly to 177,386 operations, a decrease of less than 1 percent. Air cargo traffic was down 4.8 percent over the previous year, to 620,454 metric tons. Landed weights grew by 1.6 percent to 12 billion pounds due to larger aircraft used.

OAK has over 200 flights a day on 11 domestic and international carriers to 38 nonstop destinations, including Atlanta, Boston (beginning May 4), the Hawaiian Islands, New York, Washington, D.C., and Mexico and seasonal service to the Azores (Portugal), Costa Rica and Sun Valley, Idaho. 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.

OAK consistently has the fewest weather-related flight delays in the Bay Area. All on-airport rental car companies are now located at the interim Rental Car Center at 7600 Earhart Road. A common-use shuttle bus transports rental car customers between this facility and the terminals every 10 minutes. 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. Also, in March, the cross-airport roadway project will open providing residents and businesses of Bay Farm Island in the city of Alameda improved access to OAK and Interstate 880. Visit the airport’s web site at oaklandairport.com for more information.

Rev. 3/04