Passenger traffic at LAX was up by more than 5 percent in the first half of the year, despite a drop in travel to and from Japan following the March earthquake and tsunami, according to figures released late Monday.

Those losses were offset by gains from Turkish Airlines and Iberia – both new carriers at Los Angeles International Airport – and by the addition of new flights by existing carriers, according to Los Angeles World Airports, the city agency that operates the facility.

Between January and June, 29.9 million passengers flew through LAX, up 5.4 percent from the 28.3 million who went through the airport in the first half of 2010. Domestic passengers increased by 5.9 percent, while the airport saw 4 percent more international passengers.