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Passenger numbers at Hollywood Burbank Airport continue to increase for sixth consecutive month

A passenger heads out to board a Southwest Airlines flight bound to San Francisco from Hollywood Burbank Airport, in this file photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016.

A passenger heads out to board a Southwest Airlines flight bound to San Francisco from Hollywood Burbank Airport, in this file photo taken on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016.

(Raul Roa / Burbank Leader)
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Hollywood Burbank Airport continues to see an increase in the number of passengers traveling through its terminals this year, reporting a 9.3% jump in October compared to the previous year.

The airport reported 375,456 passengers in October, which was 31,948 more than in 2015 and 28,369 more than what officials had budgeted, said Mark Hardyment, the airport’s director of governmental and environmental affairs during a meeting of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday.

Airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf said that a combination of new flight services, airlines updating their planes and a recovering economy have contributed to the hike in passengers traveling through Hollywood Burbank.

“It’s a combination and a variety of factors, and the most important are the new services and change of equipment that the airlines have instituted at Burbank,” she said. “It’s meant that they’re meeting the demand and filling their planes up.”

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It is the sixth consecutive month that passenger tallies have bested figures from the previous year and what officials had projected.

The airfield’s strong statistics in October follow its best showing so far this year in September, when officials reported an 11.5% increase over the previous year.

Southwest Airlines, the airport’s largest airline, reported 286,650 passengers in October, or 33,261 more than in 2015. United Airlines also had a positive month, with 24,448 passengers, 4,963 more than last year.

Delta Air Lines had 8,141 passengers fly with it during the month, which was a 996 bump over the previous year. JetBlue Airways also saw a modest boost, reporting 8,072 passengers in October, 326 more than in 2015.

American Airlines saw the largest decline during October, recording 13,727 passengers for the month, 4,466 less than last year. Alaska Airlines also had a drop in passengers, with 34,418 people, 1,994 fewer than the previous year.

Though passenger numbers continue to surpass the expectations of officials, the same cannot be said about parking revenues for October.

After a strong month in September, parking revenue generated in October was relatively flat. The airport made roughly $1.77 million, about $5,200 less than in 2015, said Mary Tromp, the authority’s parking manager.

October marked the first month that the airport started tracking the number of drop-offs and pick-ups made by ride-sharing drivers. During the month, there were 25,347 drop-offs and 21,384 pick-ups, Tromp said.

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Anthony Clark Carpio, anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com

Twitter: @acocarpio

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