While the events of 2020 have wreaked havoc across the commercial aviation industry, Ontario Airport in Southern California has expressed a sense of optimism for the year ahead, based on encouraging signs from the last 12 months.
Between April and October the airport recorded six straight months of traffic growth, regaining almost 50% of passenger volume compared to 2019 figures. In addition airlines resumed or initiated new services from Ontario to five destinations in 2020, including Atlanta, Chicago (Midway), Houston (Intercontinental), Seattle and Mexico City. The airport also hosted a sold-out summer drive-in movie series and added app-based ride hail operator Wingz to its ground transportation programme to increase access to the airport.
“When 2020 began, Ontario was Southern California’s newest international aviation gateway and the fastest growing airport in the US, in just its fourth year under local control,” said Alan D. Wapner, Mayor pro Tem of the City of Ontario and President of the OIAA Board of Commissioners.
An attractive low-cost airport for commercial airlines, major e-commerce hub for air cargo shippers and a driver for the region’s economy, Ontario was the airport we’d hoped it would be just a few years ago. With the vision of our commission and the dedicated service of our staff, I can say unquestionably that Ontario holds as much much, if not more, promise today than it did before the pandemic. And as coronavirus vaccines become available to more Americans, I am optimistic we will see a return to more normal travel routines in 2021.
Significantly Ontario’s role as an air cargo destination took off in 2020, growing 20% year on year. In November, FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. completed a $100 million, two-year transformation of its Ontario operations, which now features a 251,000 sq. ft. complex incorporating a state-of-the-art sorting facility capable of handling 12,000 packages per hour, nine wide-body aircraft gates, 14 feeder aircraft gates and 18 truck docks.
The redevelopment of FedEx Express’s facility, along with a 30 year lease extension, sealed Ontario’s role as a major cargo hub in North America.
“We can never forget the pandemic’s toll on human life,” said Mark Thorpe, CEO of the OIAA. “Likewise we will always remember how we adjusted at Ontario Airport, challenged ourselves to adapt and collaborated with so many partners to ensure that travel through our international gateway is safe. We faced an unprecedented threat in 2020, and what we learned about our ability to persevere under the most difficult circumstances will serve our airport, our customers and the Inland Empire well as we move into 2021,” he concluded.
