Ontario International Airport Posts Fourth Straight Month of Passenger Growth in March
Ontario International Airport recorded its fourth consecutive month of passenger growth in March, welcoming 574,819 travelers — a 2.7% year-over-year gain — while commercial air freight tonnage climbed 15.3%, airport officials announced.
The headline numbers were driven almost entirely by international traffic, which surged 55.2% to 60,042 passengers in March against the same month last year. Domestic volumes edged down 1.2% to 514,777. Through the first quarter, ONT served 1,546,339 total passengers, up 4.1% over Q1 2025. International travelers rose 58.4% to 181,854 for the quarter, offsetting a marginal 0.4% dip in domestic volume to 1.36 million.
Southwest Airlines held the largest carrier share in March at 37.5%, followed by American Airlines at 17.2%, Alaska Airlines at 10.2%, United Airlines at 9.5%, and Delta Air Lines at 8.6%.
On the cargo side, total tonnage — freight plus U.S. mail — reached 75,193 tons in March, up 11.6%. Freight alone posted 65,056 tons, a 15.3% increase, while mail shipments contracted 7.5% to 10,137 tons. Year-to-date cargo tonnage stands at 208,562 tons, up 9.2%, with freight up 12.7% and mail down 8.6%.
CEO Atif Elkadi acknowledged an uncertain remainder of the year, citing rising fuel costs, but said the airport was working closely with airline partners to preserve schedule reliability and service levels. His comments on cargo growth were more unqualified: double-digit monthly freight gains, he said, “bodes well for Ontario International’s growing contribution to the economic impact of our airport in the region.”