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TI News: An information service from the National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO)

December 24, 2013

September 2013 YTD U.S. - International Air Passenger Traffic up Four Percent

Total International Traffic up Two Percent in September
Europe up Two Percent, Asia Four Percent and South America Nine Percent in September

International air traffic to/from the U.S.(1) totaled 140.9 million passengers through September 2013, a four percent increase over the September 2012 year-to-date period. U.S. citizen travel (62.9 million) was up three percent and comprised 45 percent of all air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (78.1 million) increased by five percent with their market share at 55 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 75.4 million passengers, up three percent, with their share at 54 percent. Foreign flags carried 65.5 million passengers, up five percent from same period 2012.

International Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 62.878 3.0% 44.6% -0.4
   Non-U.S. Citizens 78.051 4.6% 55.4% 0.4
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers (2) 75.444 2.9% 53.5% -0.6
   Foreign Flag Carriers 65.485 5.1% 46.5% 0.6

The following, overseas, Canada and Mexico regions are ‘breakouts’ of international:

Overseas air traffic accounted for 105.5 million passengers, 75 percent of all international, and grew by almost four percent. U.S. citizen travel (47.5 million) was up four percent comprising 45 percent of overseas air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (58.0 million) were up by five percent with their market share at 55 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 54.0 million passengers, up two percent, their share at 51 percent. Foreign flags carried 51.5 million passengers, up five percent from September 2012 YTD.

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 47.506 3.6% 45.0% 0
   Non-U.S. Citizens 57.974 5.0% 55.0% 0
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 53.957 2.0% 51.2% -0.7
   Foreign Flag Carriers 51.523 5.1% 48.8% 0.7

Overseas regions performed as follows:

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % of all
International		 % Change
2013 / 2012 YTD
   Europe    41.949    30%    1.6%
   Asia    21.120    15%    4.4%
   Caribbean    14.953    11%    0.7%
   South America    10.800    8%    9.3%
   Central America    7.200    5%    4.3%
   Middle East    5.156    4%    10.8%
   Oceania    3.250    2%    8.0%
   Africa    1.053    1%    -1.8%

North American markets accounted for 25 percent of U.S. international air traffic flows.

Canadian air traffic accounted for 19.5 million passengers, 14 percent of all international traffic, and increased by four percent. U.S. citizen travel (5.5 million) increased seven percent and comprised 28 percent of air traffic. Canadian, and other foreign national citizen air travelers transiting through Canada (14.0 million), increased by three percent. Market share was at 72 percent.

U.S. flags carried 9.2 million passengers, up four percent from last year, with their share at 47 percent. Foreign flags carried 10.4 million passengers, up three percent.

Canada Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 5.476 6.6% 28.1% 0.8
   Non-U.S. Citizens 14.045 2.6% 71.9% -0.8
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 9.157 4.2% 46.9% 0.2
   Foreign Flag Carriers 10.364 3.2% 53.1% -0.2

Mexico air traffic accounted for 15.9 million passengers, 11 percent of all international traffic, and was up seven percent. U.S. citizen travel (9.9 million) increased eight percent and comprised 62 percent of air traffic. Mexicans, and other foreign national air travelers (6.0 million) transiting through Mexico, increased by five percent, with market share 38 percent.

U.S. flags carried 12.3 million passengers, up six percent from last year, and their share slipped to 77 percent. Foreign flags carried 3.6 million passengers, up 11 percent increasing share to 23 percent.

Mexican Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 9.896 7.6% 62.1% 0.5
   Non-U.S. Citizens 6.031 5.4% 37.9% -0.5
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 12.330 5.7% 77.4% -0.8
   Foreign Flag Carriers 3.597 10.7% 22.6% 0.8

September 2013 Year-to-Date

Top 10 Foreign Airports (Passenger Traffic to/From U.S.):
56.4 million Passengers, 40% of Total International Air Traffic

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. London Heathrow (LHR) 10.881 1.2%
2. Toronto (YYZ) 8.205 4.4%
3. Tokyo Narita (NRT) 7.281 0.7%
4. Frankfurt (FRT) 5.170 1.5%
5. Paris/de Gaulle (CDG) 4.915 3.2%
6. Cancun (CUN) 4.833 7.6%
7. Mexico City (MEX) 4.335 9.0%
8. Incheon (ICT) 3.777 5.9%
9. Amsterdam (AMS) 3.558 5.5%
10. Vancouver (YVR) 3.450 -0.1%

Top 10 U.S. Airports (Passenger Traffic to/From Foreign Airports):
90.5 million Passengers, 70% of Total Air Traffic

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. New York (JFK) 20.247 4.2%
2. Miami (MIA) 15.032 4.4%
3. Los Angeles (LAX) 13.447 3.1%
4. Newark (EWR) 8.899 -0.1%
5. Chicago (ORD) 8.834 4.4%
6. Atlanta (ATL) 7.790 3.4%
7. San Francisco (SFO) 7.379 3.0%
8. Houston (IAH) 6.836 2.1%
9. Washington Dulles (IAD) 5.298 4.0%
10. Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW) 5.056 12.2%

Top 10 Airlines(2) Serving U.S. International Non-Stop Markets:
85.8 million Passengers, 61% of Total Air Traffic

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. United Airlines 22.725 1.1%
2. American Airlines 16.870 1.5%
3. Delta Air Lines 16.625 6.8%
4. US Airways 6.419 2.8%
5. British Airways 5.201 2.5%
6. Air Canada 4.734 -5.8%
7. Lufthansa 4.163 4.0%
8. Jet Blue Airways 3.541 10.1%
9. West Jet 2.890 9.2%
10. Air France 2.662 -2.0%

Monthly % changes:
January 2013 traffic up 3.5 percent; February, up 1.9 percent; March, up 7.0 percent
(Note: Easter/Passover was ‘earlier’ this year (March 31) vs. April 8, 2012); April, up 0.7 percent; May, up 4.2 percent; June, up 5.1 percent, July, up 3.5 percent, August, up 5.8 percent and September up 2.4 percent.

Later this month NTTO will publish the September U.S. Citizen Outbound, all mode travel, as the aggregate Canadian and Mexican departure data is received from Stats Canada and Banco de Mexico, respectively. (U.S. Citizen outbound is a component in the estimation of U.S. travel ‘imports’.) For current 2013, August: https://travel.trade.gov/view/m-2013-O-001/index.html

A description of the “APIS” program: https://travel.trade.gov/research/programs/i92/index.html includes subscription prices for detail reports in excel and adobe.

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO)
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 10003
Washington, D.C. 20230
Phone: (202) 482-0140
Website: https://travel.trade.gov/
Email: ntto@trade.gov

(1) This reflects non-stop air-only data. A portion of the non-stop passenger traffic to i.e., Europe will not visit Europe, but will connect through one of Europe’s airline hubs (LHR, AMS, FRA, CDG, MAD, etc.) to Africa and the Middle East. The adjustment to these regions, reflecting visitation (1+ nights), occurs after year-end data is compiled.

(2) Numbers for U.S. carriers varies from what has been reported by Airlines for America. A4A reported mainline numbers for most of their member carriers. A4A includes Canada in Domestic. The DHS-I92/APIS data includes all carriers with international service to/from the U.S. including regional carriers, both affiliated and non-affiliated, and general aviation. The I-92APIS, however is not inclusive of Pacific inter-port or other ‘beyond’ traffic.

Performance metrics reported are:

  • Total international air travel (arrivals + departures),
  • U.S. citizen and foreign citizen air travelers,
  • U.S. flag and foreign flag carriers,
  • Top U.S. and foreign airports.