Recent data published by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) indicates that passenger enplanements for US-international air traffic amounted to 21.144 million in September 2024. This figure represents a 4.6 percent increase compared to September 2023, and enplanements have reached 105.4 percent of the volume recorded in September 2019, prior to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
In September 2024, the number of non-US citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from international locations reached 4.876 million, reflecting a 3.0 percent increase compared to September 2023. This figure accounts for 91.1 percent of the volume recorded in September 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Additionally, overseas visitor arrivals amounted to 3.061 million in September 2024, marking the nineteenth consecutive month in which these arrivals surpassed 2.0 million. The total for September represented 87.9 percent of the pre-pandemic volume from September 2019, a slight decrease from 88.5 percent in August 2024.
In September 2024, the number of air passengers who are US citizens departing from the United States to international destinations reached 5.493 million, reflecting an increase of 2.4 percent compared to September 2023. This figure also surpassed the volume recorded in September 2019 by 22.2 percent.
Total air passenger traffic, encompassing both arrivals and departures, between the United States and various countries was dominated by Canada with 2.772 million passengers, followed by Mexico with 2.442 million, the United Kingdom with 2.006 million, Germany with 1.089 million, and France with 887,000.
International regional air travel to and from the United States:
In Europe, the total number of passengers reached 7.597 million, reflecting an increase of 5.3 percent from September 2023 and a rise of 3.3 percent compared to September 2019. Departures of US citizens rose by 20.3 percent in comparison to September 2019, whereas arrivals of European citizens decreased by 15.5 percent.
In the South/Central America/Caribbean region, passenger numbers amounted to 4.176 million, representing a decline of 0.8 percent from September 2023, but an increase of 15.2 percent when compared to September 2019.
In Asia, the total passenger count was 2.390 million, which is an increase of 11.8 percent from September 2023, yet a decrease of 21.4 percent compared to September 2019. Arrivals of Asian citizens to the US fell by 30.8 percent relative to September 2019, while departures of US citizens increased by 2.9 percent.
The leading U.S. ports facilitating international travel included New York (JFK) with 3.075 million passengers, Los Angeles (LAX) with 2.002 million, Miami (MIA) with 1.695 million, San Francisco (SFO) with 1.352 million, and Newark (EWR) with 1.314 million.
Conversely, the foremost foreign ports catering to U.S. destinations were London Heathrow (LHR) with 1.640 million passengers, Toronto (YYZ) with 1.031 million, Paris (CDG) with 778,000, Frankfurt (FRA) with 706,000, and Mexico City (MEX) with 641,000.
