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

October 15, 2014

July 2014 YTD U.S. - International Air Passenger Traffic up Seven Percent

Total International Traffic up Seven Percent in July
Europe Five Percent, Asia Eight Percent, Mexico 11 Percent, Middle East 12 Percent in July

International air traffic to/from the U.S.(1)totaled 115.7 million passengers through July 2014, a seven percent increase over the July 2013 year-to-date period.

U.S. citizen travel (52.6 million) was up eight percent and comprised 46 percent of all air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (63.0 million) increased by seven percent with their market share at 55 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 61.2 million passengers, up five percent, with their share at 53 percent. Foreign flags carried 54.5 million passengers, up 10 percent from the same period 2013.

International Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 52.648 7.8% 45.5% 0.3
   Non-U.S. Citizens 63.047 6.6% 54.5% -0.3
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers (2) 61.168 4.9% 52.9% -1.1
   Foreign Flag Carriers 54.527 9.8% 47.1% 1.1

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

Overseas air traffic accounted for 85.1 million passengers, 74 percent of all international, and grew by six percent.

U.S. citizen travel (39.1 million) was up six percent comprising 46 percent of overseas air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (46.1 million) were up by six percent holding their market share at 54 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 43.0 million passengers, up four percent, their share slipping to 51 percent. Foreign flags carried 42.2 million passengers, up nine percent from July 2013 YTD.

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 39.057 6.3% 45.9% 0
   Non-U.S. Citizens 46.085 6.4% 54.1% 0
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 42.958 3.9% 50.5% -1.2
   Foreign Flag Carriers 42.184 9.0% 49.5% 1.2

Overseas regions performed as follows:

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % of all
International		 % Change
2014 / 2013
   Europe    32.337    28%    5.3%
   Asia    17.038    15%    5.6%
   Caribbean    12.793    11%    7.6%
   South America    8.706    8%    4.3%
   Central America    6.437    6%    11.5%
   Middle East    4.510    4%    15.2%
   Oceania    2.529    2%    2.0%
   Africa    0.792    1%    -0.6%

North American markets accounted for 26 percent of U.S. international air traffic flows.

Canadian air traffic accounted for 16.2 million passengers, 14 percent of all international traffic, and increased by seven percent.

U.S. citizen travel (4.3 million) increased nine percent and comprised 26 percent of air traffic.

Canadian, and other foreign national citizen air travelers transiting through Canada (11.9 million), increased by six percent. Market share slipped to 74 percent.

U.S. flags carried 7.1 million passengers, up three percent from last year, and their share dropped to 44 percent. Foreign flags carried 9.1 million passengers, up 10 percent.

Canada Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 4.256 8.9% 26.4% 0.5
   Non-U.S. Citizens 11.895 6.4% 73.6% -0.5
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 7.096 3.2% 43.9% -1.7
   Foreign Flag Carriers 9.055 10.3% 56.1% 1.7

Mexico air traffic accounted for 14.4 million passengers, 12 percent of all international traffic, and was up 12 percent.

U.S. citizen travel (9.3 million) increased 14 percent and comprised 65 percent of air traffic. Mexicans, and other foreign national air travelers (5.1 million) transiting through Mexico, increased by nine percent, dropping market share to 35 percent.

U.S. flags carried 11.1 million passengers, up 11 percent from last year, but their share slipped to 77 percent. Foreign flags carried 3.3 million passengers, up 19 percent increasing share to 23 percent.

Mexican Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 9.335 14.3% 64.8% 1.1
   Non-U.S. Citizens 5.067 8.7% 35.2% -1.1
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 11.114 10.5% 77.2% -1.2
   Foreign Flag Carriers 3.288 18.6% 22.8% 1.2

July 2014 Year-to-Date

Top 10 Foreign Airports (Passenger Traffic to/From U.S.):
44.7 million Passengers, 38% of Total International Air Traffic

    Passengers (mlns) % Change y-o-y
1. London Heathrow (LHR) 8.243 1.6%
2. Toronto (YYZ) 6.777 7.0%
3. Tokyo Narita (NRT) 5.471 -1.3%
4. Cancun (CUN) 4.528 12.9%
5. Paris (CDG) 3.846 8.1%
6. Frankfurt (FRT) 3.809 0.1%
7. Mexico City (MEX) 3.610 8.5%
8. Incheon (ICN) 2.990 3.9%
9. Vancouver (YVR) 2.855 9.4%
10. Amsterdam (AMS) 2.614 0.1%

Top 10 U.S. Airports (Passenger Traffic to/From Foreign Airports):
80.5 million Passengers, 69% of Total Air Traffic/

    Passengers (mlns) % Change y-o-y
1. New York (JFK) 16.127 7.0%
2. Miami (MIA) 12.028 2.2%
3. Los Angeles (LAX) 11.273 10.2%
4. Chicago (ORD) 7.049 10.5%
5. Newark (EWR) 7.002 2.7%
6. Atlanta (ATL) 6.508 7.4%
7. San Francisco (SFO) 6.018 8.6%
8. Houston (IAH) 6.012 11.4%
9. Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW) 4.237 9.1%
10. Washington Dulles (IAD) 4.170 4.4%

Top 10 Airlines(2) Serving U.S. International Non-Stop Markets:
68.2 million Passengers, 59% of Total Air Traffic

    Passengers (mlns) % Change y-o-y
1. United Airlines 18.209 3.5%
2. Delta Air Lines 13.583 8.9%
3. American Airlines 13.319 1.9%
4. US Airways 5.099 1.1%
5. British Airways 4.089 4.0%
6. JetBlue 3.338 22.7%
7. Lufthansa 3.150 1.3%
8. Air Canada (mainline) 2.845 -26.5%
9. West Jet 2.596 10.2%
10. Air France 2.018 3.8%

Monthly % changes:
January 2014 traffic up 7.7 percent; February, up 5.5 percent; March, up 3.0 percent; April, up 9.6 percent; May, up 9.9 percent; June, up 7.3 percent and July, up 7.1%.

Subsequently NTTO will publish the July U.S. Citizen Outbound, all mode travel, when 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 2014 https://travel.trade.gov/view/m-2014-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.