San Jose and Oakland airports handled more passengers in 2023 compared to the year before — yet both remain stuck well below their pre-coronavirus heights.
The final totals for 2023 are a reminder that the aviation hubs for the South Bay and the East Bay are finding that a full recovery from their coronavirus-induced afflictions remains elusive.
San Jose International Airport accommodated just under 12.1 million passengers in 2023, which was 6.7% higher than the passenger totals for 2022, according to a report from the city’s aviation department.
Oakland International Airport handled 11.2 million passengers in 2023, which was 0.8% above the total for 2022, the Port of Oakland’s aviation unit reported.
Both airports, however, remain far below the heights to which they had soared in 2019, the final full year before the onset of the coronavirus and the devastation it unleashed on the worldwide travel and lodging industries.
San Jose Airport’s passenger totals for 2023 were 22.7% below the 15.65 million passengers the South Bay air travel complex accommodated in 2019.
Oakland Airport’s passenger totals for 2023 were 16.3% below the figure for 2019, when the East Bay aviation center handled 13.38 million passengers.
San Francisco International Airport is also running far short of the number of passengers it accommodated before the coronavirus outbreak.
Over the one-year period that ended in October 2023, San Francisco Airport handled 49.33 million passengers. That was 14.2% below the 57.49 million passengers that SFO accommodated in 2019, this news organzation’s analysis of that airport’s passenger statistics shows.