Air cargo growth remained strong at 16.6% compared to last year

(Ontario, California – May 22, 2025) – Ontario International Airport (ONT) marked another month of passenger growth in April, officials announced during a meeting Thursday of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Airport Commissioners. The streak of 50 straight months of passenger growth began in March 2021.

The Southern California gateway’s passenger count totaled 575,623 last month, an increase of 0.4% compared with April 2024. The number of domestic passengers was 539,067, up 0.4%, while international travel volume rose by 0.6% to 36,556.

During the first four months of 2025, ONT welcomed more than 2 million air travelers, 0.5% higher than the first four months of 2024. Domestic passenger volume increased 1% to 1.9 million while the number of international travelers decreased 4.7% to 151,364.

“Our airline partners continued to demonstrate their confidence in our airport in April, increasing seats offered on Ontario flights by eight percent,” said Atif Elkadi, OIAA’s chief executive officer. “The additional seats will make travel to and from Ontario this summer even easier than it already is.”

The air carriers with the greatest passenger shares in April were:

1. Southwest Airlines (38.6%)
2. American Airlines (15.8%)
3. Frontier Airlines (11.1%)
4. Delta Air Lines (10.1%)
5. United Airlines (8.5%)

Elkadi also noted that airlines are adding new routes and expanding existing services at Ontario this summer with daily service to Baltimore/Washington (BWI) and Chicago/O’Hare (ORD) on Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, respectively. New international service from STARLUX Airlines to Taipei (TPE) begins June 2, 2025, while Volaris will offer flights to three destinations in Mexico in July, including five-times weekly service to Los Cabos (SJD).

Ontario saw continued growth in air cargo in April, increasing by 16.6%. Freight shipments decreased slightly by 0.8% while mail volume soared 437%.

From January through April, air cargo tonnage was 10% greater than the same period last year, with freight volume lower by 4.3% and mail up 335%.

“Increasing shipments of mail carried by United Parcel Service led to significant growth in air cargo tonnage in April, highlighting the appeal of our facilities among cargo shippers,” Elkadi said.