SAN JOSE — Passenger travel through San Jose Mineta International Airport lost altitude in August, an indication of weakness for the summer travel season, a brand new report shows.
The San Jose airport handled 1.07 million passengers in August, down from July totals and lower than travel activity in the identical month last 12 months.
Passenger activity at San Jose Airport fell 2.1% in August from August 2024 and a couple of.6% from July, the previous month.
The numbers suggest the South Bay aviation hub continues to struggle to return to the altitude it once enjoyed before the coronavirus outbreak.
The latest statistics also suggest that passenger numbers on the airport can have peaked and should struggle to climb any higher.
Experts say business travel has not yet recovered from the coronavirus outbreak as a result of the proliferation of distant meetings resembling ubiquitous Zoom calls or Google Meet and chat.
The decline in business travel activity has hurt markets that depend on such travel within the Bay Area, including the tech-focused South Bay.
However, the South Bay attracts vacationers, particularly those in search of a convenient base for Monterey Bay or other Bay Area locations.
The activity on the San Jose airport is evident evidence of the present problems it faces in comparison with 2019, the last full 12 months before government-ordered shutdowns to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
In the 12 months ended August, San Jose Mineta International Airport handled 11.87 million passengers, a 24.2% decrease from 2019's record 15.65 million passengers.
The current one-year trend for air travel in San Jose suggests 2024 may very well be a weaker 12 months than 2023, when the airport handled 12.1 million passengers.
If there may be a decline throughout 2024, it might mark three straight years of increased airport activity in San Jose, following a collapse in passenger travel in 2020 following the collapse of worldwide travel and hotel markets.
However, the busy Thanksgiving weekend could boost travel from San Jose Airport in November, and the Christmas and New Year's travel seasons could drive a spike in travel in December.
New airline flights could also increase passenger activity in San Jose.
Over the summer, Frontier Airlines resumed service in San Jose with every day nonstop flights connecting the South Bay to Denver, San Diego, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
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