Los Angeles International welcomed 44.46 million passengers between January and July 2024, the most recent period available. Analysis of the airport’s statistics shows that traffic was down by 13.7% compared to the same seven months before the pandemic in 2019. It is among the USA’s least-recovered significant airports. How long until it fully recovers, let alone exceeds, its pre-predemic traffic volume?
Top 10 Los Angeles airlines
They are shown below. They collectively had 34.78 million passengers and almost eight in ten of the total. Delta Air Lines was number one, a position it has held since 2021 and, before that, until 2015. American Airlines was first from 2016 to 2020. Recent Delta route additions include Auckland in October 2023 and seasonal Eagle/Vail in December.
Notice that United ranked first in destinations, influenced by its larger international network. In late 2023, it added Auckland (since ended), Hong Kong (last served in 2008), and Brisbane flights (since ended), followed by two in 2024: Tulum in May and Calgary in June. All contributed to United having 1.03 million international passengers between January and July, making it the only international operator with more than a million.
| Airline* | Roundtrip passengers**: January-July 2024 | % of the total*** | Destinations (in those seven months only; some have already ended)^ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta | 8.39 million | 18.9% | 60 |
| American | 6.93 million | 15.6% | 53 |
| United | 6.89 million | 15.5% | 61 |
| Southwest | 3.95 million | 8.9% | 27 |
| Alaska Airlines | 2.84 million | 6.4% | 35 |
| Spirit | 2.04 million | 4.6% | 27 |
| JetBlue | 1.68 million | 3.8% | 18 |
| Air Canada | 779,000 | 1.8% | 3 |
| Volaris | 658,000 | 1.5% | 10 (based on combining its different units) |
| Hawaiian | 622,000 | 1.4% | 4 |
| ** Incl. regional units | ** Rounded for readability | *** Rounded for readability | ^ Figures exclude one-offs. Other routes may be starting soon |
International better than domestic
While the domestic market accounted for nearly seven in 10 passengers, traffic decreased by -16.6% compared to 2019. In contrast, international has recovered better (-6.8%), albeit from a much smaller base. United has grown its international presence considerably, while Los Angeles has benefited from the arrival of many new airlines since 2021, including:
- Air Premia: 2022
- Cayman Airways: 2022
- Condor: 2022
- Flair: 2022
- French bee: 2022
- ITA Airways (replaced Alitalia): 2022
- Norse Atlantic: 2022
- Porter: 2024
- Starlux: 2023
- Volaris El Salvador: 2022
- ZIPAIR: 2021
Photo: Cayman Airways
So, why was traffic down? Southwest ceased flying internationally, while various carriers, especially from China, have far fewer flights than they did. More significant is that American and Delta are now both smaller internationally. American’s frequencies have reduced by nearly a third, pushing it from the top spot internationally in 2019 to fifth now. Many carriers have exited the airport, including:
- Aeroflot: 2022 (due to sanctions)
- Air Italy: 2019
- Air Transat: 2023
- Ethiopian: 2019 (flew via Dublin)
- Etihad: 2020
- Hainan Airlines: 2020
- Hong Kong Airways: 2020
- Interjet: 2020 (defunct)
- Lynx: 2024 (defunct)
- Norwegian: 2020 (ended long-haul flying)
- Thomas Cook: 2019 (defunct)
- XL Airways France: 2019 (defunct)
Source: Simple Flying
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