Passenger traffic levels at Philadelphia International Airport reached 19,638,387 in 2021 as the travel industry continued to recover from pandemic lows, according to annual data released by the airport on Monday.

Last year’s passenger volume increased by 65.5% from the 11,865,006 travelers who passed through PHL in 2020.

But it was still 40.5% below traffic in 2019, when PHL saw a record 33,018,886 passengers – before the spread of the coronavirus and related shutdown orders around the world dented travel demand.

“We are still a few years away from a full pandemic recovery, however, our total passenger volume from last year gives us optimism as we begin 2022,” PHL CEO Chellie Cameron said in a statement. communicated. “This year, our airline partners are expected to offer service to 91 domestic destinations and 31 international destinations, including four Canadian destinations, 13 transatlantic destinations and 14 Caribbean/Mexican destinations.

Through 2021, domestic passenger traffic increased by 66.4% compared to 2020, representing a stronger recovery than international traffic, which increased by 50.9% compared to 2020 levels.

While passenger numbers fell sharply in 2020, cargo at PHL continued to grow from 2019 to 2021, and officials are planning a $1.2 billion expansion of the airport’s cargo program that will add 136 acres. and 800,000 square feet of building space in the years to come.

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In 2021, the combination of air cargo and air mail reached 643,138 tons, an increase of 3.2% compared to 623,127.5 tons in 2020 and almost 5.9% more than the total freight in 2019.

“The continued increase in air cargo and air mail processing at PHL year over year over the past few years shows why we need to increase our cargo capacity now,” Cameron said. “The impact of this program on our airport, our region’s workforce and our local economy is exponential.

PHL is expected to receive $30.7 million from the Federal Infrastructure Act in 2022, and airport officials said some of that funding will go to the cargo program.