ONTARIO, Calif. — Ontario International Airport is close to reaching pre-pandemic passenger levels this holiday season as demand for travel increases despite the recent omicron variant surge. 

What You Need To Know

  • More than a quarter of a million people expect to travel to and from the Ontario International Airport this winter holiday season

  • The surge of travelers come amid the coronavirus pandemic and an increase of cases due to the omicron variant 

  • U.S. health officials are urging unvaccinated people to get vaccinated or for those vaccinated to get a booster to protect themselves

  • Ontario Airport has seen an increase in passenger traffic this year 

Ontario airport officials said that more than a quarter of a million passengers, or about 271,000 people, are expected to fly in and out of the Ontario airport in San Bernardino County this winter holiday season.

"There's a tremendous pent-up energy among travelers right now," said Steve Lambert, airport spokesman, in an interview with Spectrum News. "After the last year and a half, people are eager to spend the holidays with families and friends, and are willing to travel long distances to do that."

The expected surge in travel during the holidays, one of the busiest times of the year, comes amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and an increase in cases from the newly discovered COVID-19 omicron variant.

There are still many things scientists and health officials don't know about the latest variant. Still, U.S. officials were concerned enough last month to ban tourists from certain African countries, where the virus was first discovered, and new and stringent international travel restrictions to limit its spread.

U.S. health officials are urging those who have not received the vaccine to do so and fully vaccinated individuals to get a third booster shot to protect them from the latest variant of the coronavirus. 

In California, the recent surge of COVID-19 cases prompted health officials to require mask-wearing in all indoor public settings regardless of vaccination status until Jan. 15. 

The airport spokesman, Lambert, said the Ontario airport continues to follow the federal mask mandate throughout the terminals and on the airlines. 

From the start of the pandemic, he said they have been "very aggressive about sanitizing all touch surfaces through the day, using signage as reminders, and infrared technology on our escalators as a further sanitizing measure."

According to airport officials, the airport continues to rebound from the pandemic's impact on travel and has seen a significant surge in travelers this year. 

Officials reported they nearly reached their 2019 pre-pandemic levels in October. And this Thanksgiving holiday, more than 180,000 passengers flew in and out of the airport, nearly equaling the pre-pandemic passenger volumes from Thanksgiving 2019. 

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This holiday season, airport officials expect to welcome more than 271,000 passengers to fly into and from Ontario between Dec. 18 and Jan. 4, averaging about 15,000 people with their busiest days on Dec. 21 and Dec. 22, when the airport expects 17,000 fliers on those days.

The airport did not do a forecast for last year because of the virus, said Lambert.

Though the holiday passenger numbers are a 7% decrease compared with two years ago, the airport still expects to be very busy. 

"Ontario International experienced pre-pandemic passenger volumes over Thanksgiving. Though we don't expect the same levels in the weeks ahead our passenger terminals will still be bustling," said Ronald O. Loveridge, vice president of the Ontario International Airport Authority Board of Commissioners, in a statement.