10 percent jump in passengers at Sonoma County airport

An increase in flights led to a 10 percent jump in airline ridership last year at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport.

Alaska Airlines served 263,142 passengers in 2015, the most since the company began service here nearly nine years ago.

The increased ridership came as the airlines last year added summer flights to Seattle, fall routes to Los Angeles and a second daily trip to Seattle from Dec. 17 to Jan. 3.

“We had a great December, and finished the year with a bang,” airport spokeswoman Gina Stocker wrote Tuesday in an email. The number of passengers jumped 28 percent last month compared to a year earlier.

Ridership is expected to increase again this year as the airline begins daily service in March to Orange County.

The Alaska website shows service beginning March 16 with a 12:40 p.m. departure from Santa Rosa to the John Wayne Airport. The listed price for that flight is $89 one way, though prices rise for flights during and near weekends.

In 2015, Alaska flew more than 4,300 one-way flights to and from Santa Rosa, an increase of 9 percent.

The average flight last year was 79 percent full, compared to 78 percent in 2014. Airport officials have said such results are important because they show that the increase in operations didn’t result in less business on the existing flights.

Alaska, the airport’s sole commercial carrier, currently offers daily flights from Santa Rosa to San Diego, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.

In 2014 the county completed a $55 million runway expansion project that allows larger planes to land at the airport.

Airport officials continue to talk to various airlines about new service from Santa Rosa to Denver, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @rdigit