US-International Air Passenger Traffic Up 14.6% in March

According to the recently released data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), the US-international air traffic passenger enplanements in March 2024 reached a total of 22.553 million. This represents a 14.6 percent increase compared to March 2023 and enplanements reached 105.7 percent of the pre-pandemic March 2019 volume.

In terms of originating non-stop air travel in March 2024, the number of non-US citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from foreign countries was 5.003 million, which is a 16.8 percent increase compared to March 2023. This accounts for 96.2 percent of the pre-pandemic March 2019 volume.

Furthermore, overseas visitor arrivals in March 2024 totaled 2.706 million, marking the 13th consecutive month where overseas visitor arrivals exceeded 2.0 million. The March overseas visitor arrivals reached 93.8 percent of the pre-pandemic March 2019 volume, showing an improvement from 86.6 percent in February 2024.

In terms of U.S. citizen air passenger departures from the United States to foreign countries, the total for March 2024 was 6.427 million, which is a 13.9 percent increase compared to March 2023 and surpasses the March 2019 volume by 19.5 percent.

Looking at world region highlights in March 2024, the total air passenger travel (arrivals and departures) between the United States and other countries was led by Mexico with 4.080 million passengers, followed by Canada with 2.909 million passengers, the United Kingdom with 1.578 million passengers, the Dominican Republic with 1.034 million passengers, and Japan with 880,000 passengers.

In terms of international regional air travel to/from the United States, Europe accounted for 5.206 million passengers in March 2024, which is an 8.5 percent increase compared to March 2023 and only a 1.0 percent decrease compared to March 2019. U.S. citizen departures to Europe increased by 10.5 percent compared to March 2019, while European citizen arrivals to the U.S. decreased by 5.2 percent.

Asia recorded 2.520 million passengers in total, showing a 33.2 percent increase from March 2023, yet a decrease of 19.0 percent compared to March 2019. The total number of passengers in Asia reached 2.520 million, marking a 33.2 percent rise from March 2023, while experiencing a 19.0 percent decline compared to March 2019.

In March 2023, the combined total of South/Central America/Caribbean reached 6.137 million, marking a significant increase of 17.8 percent compared to the previous month and a notable growth of 14.7 percent compared to March 2019.

Among the top U.S. ports serving international destinations, New York (JFK) recorded the highest number with 2.785 million, followed by Miami (MIA) with 2.258 million, Los Angeles (LAX) with 2.001 million, Newark (EWR) with 1.257 million, and San Francisco (SFO) with 1.253 million.

On the other hand, the leading foreign ports serving U.S. locations were Cancun (CUN) with 1.413 million, London Heathrow (LHR) with 1.409 million, Toronto (YYZ) with 1.181 million, Mexico (MEX) with 696,000, and Paris (CDG) with 630,000.