International travel resurgent at LAX, with nearly 100% year-over-year increase in passengers

Los Angeles International Airport saw 1.8 million international travelers last month, nearly double the number from July 2021, airport officials said Monday.

The year-over-year increase is a sign of continued recovery for the travel industry, but numbers still have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels; in July 2019, more than 2.5 million international passengers flew through LAX.

Between January and July, the airport saw 8.7 million international passengers, up more than 141% from the same period last year.

Overall traffic at LAX — both international and domestic — is up 57% from last year.

“The strong rebound in international travel that we have seen during the peak summer months is very encouraging and adding to our overall growth in passenger numbers this season,” Justin Erbacci, chief executive of Los Angeles World Airports, said in a news release.

The numbers of flights available to Mexico and Canada have rebounded to near pre-pandemic figures, and flights to the Middle East have exceeded levels last seen in 2019.

But the numbers of flights to and from Europe and Asia continue to lag behind pre-pandemic availability, with travel to Asia from LAX still less than half of what it was before the pandemic.

In July 2019, 2,521 flights and more than 775,319 seats were available from LAX to Asia, representing the largest international destination for the airport. Fewer than 1,140 Asia-bound flights and just under 324,000 seats were available last month.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.