JWA travelers up this July over last

Slightly more passengers flew into and out of John Wayne Airport this July than last, according to numbers released Tuesday.

The airport served 834,328 people in July 2013, a 2.2% increase over the previous July, when 816,536 people were served.

Still, fewer aircraft takeoffs and landings were reported last month. More than 21,800 aircraft operations occurred this July, a 1% decrease over the same month in 2012.

Some of this decrease can be attributed to a decline in the number of commuter flights, which are commercial flights involving aircraft that seat no more than 70 people, and a decline in the number of private aircraft flights. These categories saw decreases of 32.7% and 1.8%, respectively.

More than 5.3 million travelers have passed through the airport this year.

[For the record, 9:34 a.m. Aug. 29: An earlier version of this story should have said private aircraft flights were down by 1.8% when compared to last July, not 42.8%, based on updated data that John Wayne Airport released Wednesday. Additionally, total aircraft operations in July 2013 were more than 21,800, which was only a 1% decrease over the same month in 2012, not 28.3%.]

— Emily Foxhall

Twitter: @emfoxhall