Courtesy of Long Beach Airport.
The first half of the year saw a 46.5 percent increase in passenger traffic at the Long Beach Airport compared to the same period last year, according to LGB flight activity statistics released Monday.
Between January and June 2017, LGB served 1,849,953 passengers—a 46.5 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016 when LGB served a total of 1,262,360 passengers.
The total number of enplanements (departures) the first half of last year was 632,972 compared to 925,495 this year, a 46.2 percent increase. The total number of deplanements (arrivals) during the same time last year was 629,388 while this year showed a 46.9 percent hike at 924,458.
The commercial flight activity report also revealed a roughly 25 percent increase in airline passenger traffic at LGB for June 2017 compared to the same period in 2016.
According to the report, there were 157,233 enplanements and 155,831 deplanements for a passenger traffic total of 313,064 in June 2017. During June 2016, there were 126,241 enplanements and 124,180 deplanements—showing this year a 24.5 percent and 25.5 percent increase, respectively.
The total air cargo carried by aircraft, both inbound and outbound, fell 11.4 percent in June 2017 compared to the same time last year, according to the report. In June 2016, commercial aircraft carried 2,277 tons of cargo while in June 2017 commercial aircraft carried 2,018 tons of cargo.
The total of air cargo carried for the first half of 2017 was 11,344 tons—a 7.6 percent decrease compared to last year which saw 12,283 tons of air cargo carried.
The airport generates more than $10 billion and 45,000 jobs in total economic activity to the Long Beach region with an additional $1.1 billion in tax revenue at the federal, state and local levels, according to LGB officials. It was recently awarded the Best of 2017 Travel Award by Sunset magazine.