Sonoma County airport passenger volume rises in June; United delays return of Santa Rosa-Denver flights

Passenger volume at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport last month was closer to levels seen in June 2019, as leisure travel resumes following the pandemic-ridden 2020, airport officials said Tuesday.

Still, one commercial carrier has again delayed its return to the airport.

United Airlines, which most recently targeted Sept. 8 to restart its service to Denver, has pushed the date to Oct. 31, said Airport Manager Jon Stout. United didn’t indicate why the change of date, he noted, but the airline remains on track to resume service to San Francisco on Aug. 1.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines and Avelo Airlines — the three other commercial carriers currently servicing the airport — collectively flew 49,186 passengers through the Sonoma County facility in June, up 526.3% from a year earlier when the airport flew 7,853 passengers, according to the new figures. In June 2019, the airport flew 45,822 passengers.

“Year to date, we're at 139,667 passengers, compared to 206,563 from 2019,” Stout said. “So the first four months of this year, COVID was still having a major impact, and now we’re starting to see a return to pre-COVID levels.”

But it’s still early into the recovery, he cautioned.

“With the Delta variant starting to spread a little bit more,” Stout said, “I’m not sure how this will play out for the rest of the year.” So far in July, the airport has been busier than in June, he added.

Meanwhile, Avelo Airlines, which on July 15 announced it will add a Las Vegas route from the Santa Rosa airport beginning Sept. 16, flew 7,388 passengers in June. The airline’s load factor — the measure of how full airplanes are on average — was 65%.

Alaska Airlines, the regional airport’s largest commercial carrier, last month flew 30,086 passengers, up 484.5% from June 2020. Alaska’s load factor was 83%, compared to 38% a year earlier.

An additional Alaska daily flight to John Wayne Airport in Orange County and San Diego International Airport will begin Sept. 8, The Press Democrat reported on July 15. The three new flights will bring Alaska’s daily departures from Sonoma County to 13 by September.

American Airlines in June flew 11,712 passengers through the Santa Rosa facility, up 397.7%% from the year prior. The carrier’s load factor was 89%, up from 48% in June 2020.