The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) released the latest data indicating that in December 2023, the number of passengers boarding international flights in the US reached 21.630 million, which was a 15.4% increase compared to December 2022. This figure also represented 102.5% of the passenger volume recorded in December 2019 before the pandemic.
Originating Non-Stop Air Travel in December 2023
Non-US citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from foreign countries totaled:
- 5.201 million in December 2023, up 19% compared to December 2022.
- This represents 92.4% of pre-pandemic December 2019 volume.
In December 2023, the number of overseas visitors reached a total of 3.071 million, marking the 10th consecutive month with visitor numbers surpassing 2.0 million. This figure represents 88.1% of the visitor volume recorded in December 2019, before the pandemic, an increase from November 2023’s 82.8% level.
US citizen air passenger departures from the United States to foreign countries totaled:
- 6.130 million in December 2023, up 12.6% compared to December 2022 and exceeding December 2019 volume by 16.6%.
World Region Highlights in October 2023 (APIS/I-92 arrivals + departures)
- Total air passenger travel (arrivals and departures) between the United States and other countries were led by Mexico 3.830 million, Canada 2.565 million, the United Kingdom 1.595 million, the Dominican Republic 922,000, and Germany 807,000.
International regional air travel to/from the United States:
- Europe totaled 5.179 million passengers, up 9.9% over December 2022, and down only (-4.1%) compared to December 2019. (U.S citizen departures were up 7.4% compared to December 2019, while European citizen arrivals were down -11.9%.)
- Asia totaled 2.335 million passengers, up 38.5% over December 2022, but down (-29.8%) compared to December 2019.
- South/Central America/Caribbean totaled 5.932 million, up 19.0% over December 2022, and 17.3% compared to December 2019.
Top U.S. Ports serving international locations were New York (JFK) 2.865 million, Miami (MIA) 2.222 million, Los Angeles (LAX) 1.999 million, San Francisco (SFO) 1.227 million, and Newark (EWR) 1.221 million.
Top Foreign Ports serving U.S. locations were London Heathrow (LHR) 1.418 million, Cancun (CUN) 1.211 million, Toronto (YYZ) 1.066 million, Mexico (MEX) 795,000, and Paris (CDG) 662,000.
* The APIS/I-92 Program provides information on non-stop international air traffic between the United States and other countries.
