Last year, 5.5 million passengers used Ontario International Airport, the highest number of air travelers in more than a decade, airport officials reported this week.

The 9.1% bump in passenger volume over 2018 was paired with a 5.1% rise in freight shipments, continuing a one-two punch for growth, the airport said in a news release Wednesday, Jan. 22.

ONT has been on a growth plan since the local authorities, namely the city of Ontario and the county of San Bernardino, took over operations from the city of Los Angeles in 2016. The airport has been leasing more space to freight giants such as FedEx, Amazon and UPS, a model that helps increase airport revenues. Freight shipments increased to more than 760,000 tons last year, the airport reported.

Also, slowly but steadily, airlines have been increasing flights and adding new destinations. In 2019, Delta Airlines increased the number of flights to Atlanta to twice a day; United Airlines added a flight to Houston and Southwest Airlines added four new flights to San Francisco, plus a Denver flight.

Denver-based Frontier Airlines starting in April will add direct flights to Newark, N.J., serving New York City; Las Vegas and Miami. On the international side, Frontier is adding flights to El Salvador in May and Guatemala in June, Atif Elkadi, ONT’s deputy CEO, said in a Jan. 23 interview.

Latin American destinations continue an international trend, which started in 2018 with China Airlines flying once daily out of ONT to Taipei, Taiwan. That service increased in 2019 when the airline started using the larger capacity Boeing 777 300ER, which holds 100 more passengers than the A350 it used to use.

“This significant expansion of air service adds to Ontario’s momentum and reaffirms our status as the nation’s fasting growing airport,” Alan D. Wapner, president of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) Board of Commissioners and a member of the Ontario City Council, said in a prepared statement.

The airport draws customers from north Orange County, the east San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire. Elkadi said it is the closest airport to 11 million Southern Californians.

Passenger volume in 2019 was the highest ONT has recorded since 2008 when passenger volume was about 6.2 million. Despite gains in recent years, the airport still has a long way to go to reach its record high of 7 million passengers set in 2007.

Most of the time, travelers find uncrowded terminals. ONT officials maintain a passenger can get from the parking lot to the gate in less than a half-hour. The buzz on social media sites such as Reddit is generally positive. The airport is seen as an alternative to LAX, as is Hollywood Burbank Airport and John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

Some who live more than 20 miles away have said on social media that the drive on increasingly crowded local freeways taints the positive experience at the airport. Some Redditors have asked for a FlyAway, a dedicated bus or van from a train or bus depot to and from ONT, similar to those that operate to LAX from remote locations.

“We’ve heard that from multiple customers,” began Elkadi. “That is something we are currently in the process of investigating. We are talking to a number of different partners.”

Omnitrans offers the only bus service to the airport. Uber, the ride-hailing company, pulled all its drivers from ONT last summer after saying airport fees were too high. Lyft continues to pick up and drop off passengers at ONT and in partnership with the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority offers free or discounted service from four train stations.

“That will continue through the entire year,” Elkadi said.

As the logistics business grows with new warehouses being built in the IE, air freight companies are expanding operations at ONT. For example, FedEx is spending $100 million on a 51-acre facility that almost triples its acreage for cargo storage and sorting.

“We are really becoming the hub for economic activity,” Elkadi said. “Airlines, air travelers and freight shippers are all recognizing the value of the airport as first-rate.”

Some residents in south Ontario and Chino said the increasing passenger and freight business has meant more planes flying over their homes, creating more frequent noise interruptions and additional sleepless nights.

Richard Sherman, a Chino resident, lives about 6 miles away, where the westward planes make a sweeping turn to go easterly. He’s logged 332 late-night noise complaints in 2019 and 32 so far this month to the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.

“It’s mostly the cargo planes. They are older and they don’t have the noise dampening systems like the new, modern jets do,” he said in a Jan. 23 interview. “We say just keep the noise down after midnight.”

The FedEx facility is anticipated to open in November and be ready for the peak holiday season, Elkadi said.