LAX Sees Increase in Travelers

Passenger traffic through Los Angeles International Airport increased by 4.7 percent in 2011 but, inexplicably, the volume of air cargo dropped, airport administrators say.

Total passenger volume at LAX last year was 61,862,052 compared with 59,070,127 travelers in 2010, according to an airport statement.

Domestic passenger traffic increased 4.6 percent, from 43,134,145 in 2010 to 45,130,728 last year, while international traffic grew by 4.9 percent, from 15,935,982 in 2010 to 16,731,324 in 2011, it said.

Also on the rise was the number of landings and takeoffs at LAX, which increased 4.8 percent—from 575,835 in 2010 to 603,912 in 2011, according to the statement.

Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the city department that owns and operates LAX and two other Southland airports, attributed the rise in passenger traffic to new service to Istanbul, Madrid and Tokyo; increased flights to Beijing, Shanghai and Dubai; an improving Asian economy; "and a modest but perceptible strengthening of the Southern California economy."

"While LAX has not come close to seeing its pre-9/11 traffic of 67 million passengers, the 2010 activity demonstrates a stronger travel demand than we've seen in several years," she said.

But, Lindsey added, "the drop in cargo activity is somewhat puzzling. We need to dissect the numbers and understand underlying causes."

Total air cargo tonnage at LAX dropped 3.8 percent last year—from 1,926,825 in 2010 to 1,853,658 in 2011, the airport statement reported. Air mail tonnage rose 8.6 percent—from 74,034 tons in 2010 to 80,442 in 2011—but freight went from 1,852,791 tons in 2010 to 1,773,215 last year for a 4.2 percent drop, the statement said.