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Coronavirus: Passenger Traffic Through LAX Down 90 Percent From Last Year

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — LAX is typically the second-busiest airport in the nation, but you wouldn't know it during the coronavirus outbreak.

Passenger traffic at Los Angeles International Airport is down 90 percent from this time last year, according to officials. The plummeting passenger traffic has forced airport officials to cut back on bus and shuttle trips.

Only a few hundred international travelers are coming into the airport daily.

Many flights to New York, the American city hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, have been canceled, and American Airline has dropped its non-stop service from LAX to JFK, a flight that has been in service since 1959.

The coronavirus outbreak walloped the travel industry first, as officials grappled with how to handle American travelers coming from China, Iran and Italy and bringing the virus with them. Airlines have cut back on both international and domestic flights into summer, and many have taken to parking unused jets in Victorville.

The Hollywood Burbank Airport was forced to close several parking lots and a terminal due to the drop in demand.

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