1997 SETS LAX VOLUME RECORD; OFFICIALS SAY HIGH NUMBERS SHOW NEED TO EXPAND NATION'S FOURTH-BUSIEST AIRPORT.

Byline: Eric Moses Daily News Staff Writer

More passengers and cargo passed through Los Angeles International Airport last year than ever before, according to figures released Wednesday.

LAX officials said the new numbers underscore the need to support a proposal to add at least one runway and more terminals within the next 17 years.

In terms of passenger traffic, LAX remained solidly in fourth place among the nation's major airports, which are lead by Chicago's O'Hare and then Atlanta Hartsfield and Dallas-Fort Worth.

With more than 2.1 million tons of cargo flown in, much it from Asia, LAX was among the top three freight and mail destination in the nation. Airport rankings are not yet available for cargo. In 1996, the airport handled 1.7 million tons of cargo.

During the 1997 calendar year, 60.1 million travelers took flights into and out of the airport, according to airport records. That's up 5.39 percent from 1996, when 57.9 million passengers used LAX.

For Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, the numbers were not as good: A total of 4.72 million travelers passed through the airport in 1997, down 2.5 percent from the previous year, when 4.84 million passengers landed or took off from there.

Cargo traffic at the airport dropped from 79.25 to 72.65 million pounds, an 8.32 percent decline.

``There is just less business out there is the way I would describe it,'' said Victor Gill, an airport spokesman. ``It is a moderate reduction, but a reduction nevertheless.''

Burbank Airport also wants a new terminal with more gates.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter said the Department of Airports should shrink its plans for LAX and consider expanding the airport in Palmdale, a huge Los Angeles-owned property that now is a small commuter and cargo airstrip.

``One, we are neglecting - it's the biggest - and we're growing pistachio nuts there,'' she said of Palmdale. ``One of them (LAX), we are overstuffing and we are threatening to make worse.''

Defending the airport plan for expansion, LAX spokesman Tom Winfrey said his airport is increasingly popular because it serves a need. ``Airlines follow markets, and the market is presently in Los Angeles,'' he said.

The rosy passenger and cargo figures were released as department General Manager John J. Driscoll was in Asia, on a trade mission with Mayor Richard Riordan to drum up more business for LAX.

LAX spokesman Scott Reed said passenger totals have been on the rise, reaching 51 million in 1994, 53.9 million in 1995 and 57.9 million in 1996.

``It's one of the reasons there are plans to expand the airport. Something needs to be done to handle the extra passengers,'' Reed said.

Officials have proposed increasing the number flights landing and taking off at LAX - a relatively tiny, 5,000-acre airfield - to accommodate a projected passenger load of 98 million in 2015.

At Palmdale Airport, where United Express operates commuter flights to and from LAX, 19,387 people flew out of the desert community, up from 18,481 in 1996. Still, the total is lower than the 20,322 that used it in 1995.

But both air freight and operations - the number of takeoffs and landings - dropped, with freight falling to 1,751 pounds and operations to 3,291.

Daily News Staff Writer Eric Wahlgren contributed to this story.