Additional flights factor into Hollywood Burbank Airport’s increasing passenger numbers
Additional flights and aircraft changes were factors in a 14.2% boost in passenger numbers in August at Hollywood Burbank Airport compared to the same month in 2016, officials said.
The airfield tallied 419,768 passengers in August — 52,241 more people through its terminals than the same month last year — said Nerissa Sugars, manager of air service development for the airport during a meeting of the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday.
Hollywood Burbank’s August figures are the highest for the airfield so far this year, besting its numbers from June, when the airport reported 408,477 passengers.
Southwest Airlines, the largest carrier operating at Hollywood Burbank, reported 307,948 passengers in August, which was 36,915 more passengers compared to August 2016. The jump was due to two additional round-trip flights during the week and the use of bigger Boeing 737-800 aircraft for some of its flights, Sugars said.
United Airlines also showed signs of improvement, with 31,093 passengers for the month, up 6,725 passengers from the year before. Delta Air Lines had a strong showing as well, reporting 14,115 passengers, a jump of 5,698 more passengers than in August 2016. Delta’s improvement is possibly attributable to its additional flights to Salt Lake City, Sugars said.
Alaska Airlines saw its numbers go up, reporting 46,891 passengers in August, which was 3,836 more than last year. The airline added two more flights to San Jose, and has switched to the Embraer 175 aircraft for its evening departures, Sugars said.
JetBlue Airways had a relatively flat month, with 8,517 passengers, just 206 more than in August 2016. American Airlines continued to have a disappointing summer, reporting 11,204 passengers for August, a drop of 1,139 compared to the same month the year before.
Sugars also went over how other airports in the region — Los Angeles International Airport, Ontario International Airport, Long Beach Airport and John Wayne Airport — fared during August.
Long Beach showed significant improvement, reporting 316,291 passengers in August, a bump of 44,782 passengers compared to the year before. Sugars said this was due to strong showings by JetBlue and Southwest.
Ontario also had a good month, with 387,351 passengers, which was 29,497 more passengers than during August 2016. LAX also saw its numbers improve, reporting 7,930,124 passengers in August, a jump of 335,114 passengers compared to last year.
John Wayne had a flat August, with 934,515 passengers, which was 1,544 fewer than last year. Sugars said the decline might be due to a passenger cap placed on the airport by local agencies.
The passenger statistics for Hollywood Burbank were not the only numbers that improved in August. Denis Carvill, the airport’s deputy executive director of engineering, maintenance, operations and airline relations, said the airfield generated about $1.7 million in parking revenue for the month, which was up $60,657 compared to the year before.
August was also the first month that did not include any ride-sharing company activities in the parking structure. Without the $3 short-term ticket fee companies must pay when picking up passengers, the parking structure generated $381,399, a drop of $22,606 compared to August 2016.
Though revenue from the parking structure was down, it was covered by the money generated by those opting to use ride-sharing services.
Mike Duong, the airport’s senior manager of business and compliance, said Hollywood Burbank received $208,626 from ride-sharing companies in August. There were 36,966 drop-offs and 32,576 pick-ups during the month.
The fees are collected on a monthly basis from companies such as Lyft, Uber, Wingz and Opoli.
The transportation-network companies are charged $3 each time one of their drivers crosses an established geofence around the airport to make a pick-up at the concrete median near Terminal B or to drop off a passenger in front of the terminals.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
