San Jose airport reaches record as passengers served increases
Mineta international added several domestic, international routes in ’18
SAN JOSE >> Mineta San Jose International Airport soared to record levels of passengers in 2018, city aviation officials said Monday.
The airport served 14.3 million passengers last year, a 14.7 percent jump from the passenger totals of 2017, according to the air travel hub.
“The San Jose International Airport team and partners celebrated two incredible milestones in 2018, by marking a new record of serving 14.3 million travelers, 1.8 million more than the prior year, and regaining the No. 2 position among Bay Area airports for passenger activity,” said John Aitken, the city’s director of aviation.
Previously, Oakland International Airport was the No. 2 airport for passengers in the Bay Area. Both the East Bay and South Bay airports are well behind the levels at San Francisco International Airport.
“This is great news for the airport,” said Scott Knies, executive director of the San Jose Downtown Association. “More passengers will mean more flights and activity at the airport.”
The increase in passenger totals marked six consecutive years of annual growth in passengers at San Jose, the airport said.
The airport during 2018 added several new nonstop domestic routes and one new non-stop international route.
Albuquerque, New Mexico; Boise, Idaho; Detroit; Houston’s Hobby airport; New Orleans; Orlando, Florida; St. Louis; and Spokane, Washington were the new domestic routes. Leon, Mexico was the new international route added last year.
Southwest Airlines provided seven of the eight new non-stop routes, while Delta Air Lines provided the non-stop to Detroit. The new flight to Mexico was launched by Volaris.
“Our growth in 2018 was driven not only by new domestic and international
routes, but by substantial increases in passengers traveling on newly competitive routes,” Aitken said.
The jump in air travel at San Jose airport has arrived as city officials are debating whether to allow taller buildings in the downtown area amid a surge of interest and investment activity in the urban heart of the nation’s 10th-largest city.
San Jose officials are attempting to ensure they can achieve more a dense, busy and robust downtown district and ensure the nearby airport continues safe operations that attract a growing number of travelers and airlines.
“We can have our cake and eat it too,” Knies said in an interview earlier this year. “We can have both a strong airport and a strong downtown.”