Oakland, San Jose airports’ flights are among least crowded in U.S.: study

( KRON ) — Flights departing San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport are far less crowded on average than most other flights nationwide, according to a new study published by Lending Tree. The Oakland airport recently changed its official name in an effort to increase visibility.

According to Lending Tree, just 74% of available seats on flights leaving were occupied in 2023. That is the fifth-lowest mark of the 100 busiest airports in the country and the second-lowest in the lower 48 states. In San Jose, just 75.3% of seats were taken — the 10th-lowest figure of America’s 100 busiest airports.

Kahului Airport in Hawaii had the emptiest flights — just 70.6% of seats were filled. Hollywood Burbank was the second-least crowded at 71.8% of seats taken. After two more Hawaii airports, OAK came in at 74%.

In 2023, 5.39 million passengers flew out of OAK, according to Lending Tree’s data. There were nearly 1.9 million empty seats on those flights.

Lending Tree offered an explanation for why certain airports are more empty: “Limited routes and higher fares are likely why these airports are less crowded. It could also be due to the airlines that service various airports, as some are busier than others.”

The Oakland airport controversially changed its name to include “San Francisco Bay” earlier this year, saying some travelers are unaware that the airport is in the Bay Area.

“We are standing up for Oakland and the East Bay; this will boost inbound travelers’ geographic awareness of the airport by highlighting the airport’s location on the San Francisco Bay,” said Oakland Port Commission President Barbara Leslie.

Conversely, San Francisco International Airport has the 14th-busiest rate in the country. More than 24 million airplane seats departed SFO in 2023, and 83.1% were taken.

St. Pete-Clearwater International (Florida) was the airport with the highest rate in the country at 87%. The only airports with more than 20 million travelers in 2023 that had a lower vacancy rate than SFO were in Newark, Atlanta, and Los Angeles.

Methodology

Lending Tree obtained its data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation’s air carrier statistics. It analyzed the number of available seats on departing flights both domestic and international and the number of total passengers on those flights to formulate its percentages.

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