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

January 15, 2014

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

Total International Traffic also up Four Percent in November
Middle East Traffic up 11 Percent in 2013

U.S. - International Traffic

International air traffic to/from the U.S.(1) totaled 169.5 million passengers through November 2013, a four percent increase over the November 2012 year-to-date period. U.S. citizen travel (74.5 million) was up three percent and comprised 44 percent of all air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (95.1 million) increased by five percent with their market share at 56 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 90.2 million passengers, up three percent, with their share at 53 percent. Foreign flags carried 79.4 million passengers, up five percent from same period 2012.

International Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 74.467 3.2% 43.9% -0.4
   Non-U.S. Citizens 95.074 4.8% 56.1% 0.4
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers (2) 90.172 3.0% 53.2% -0.5
   Foreign Flag Carriers 79.369 5.3% 46.8% 0.5

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

Overseas air traffic accounted for 126.9 million passengers, 75 percent of all international, and grew by four percent. U.S. citizen travel (56.3 million) was up two percent comprising 44 percent of overseas air traffic. Non-U.S. citizen air travelers (70.6 million) were up by five percent with their market share at 56 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 64.4 million passengers, up two percent, their share at 51 percent. Foreign flags carried 62.5 million passengers, up five percent from November 2012 YTD.

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 56.270 2.0% 44.3% -0.8
   Non-U.S. Citizens 70.648 5.2% 55.7% 0.8
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 64.418 2.2% 50.8% -0.7
   Foreign Flag Carriers 62.500 5.4% 49.2% 0.7

Overseas regions performed as follows:

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % of all
International		 % Change
2013 / 2012 YTD
   Europe    50.544    30%    2.1%
   Asia    25.628    15%    4.2%
   Caribbean    17.569    10%    1.1%
   South America    13.213    8%    9.2%
   Central America    8.539    5%    4.1%
   Middle East    6.215    4%    10.8%
   Oceania    3.952    2%    8.1%
   Africa    1.258    1%    -1.3%

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

Canadian air traffic accounted for 23.6 million passengers, 14 percent of all international traffic, and increased by four percent. U.S. citizen travel (6.5 million) increased six percent and comprised 28 percent of air traffic. Canadian, and other foreign national citizen air travelers transiting through Canada (17.1 million), increased by three percent. Market share was at almost 73 percent.

U.S. flags carried 11.1 million passengers, up four percent from last year, with their share at 47 percent. Foreign flags carried 12.5 million passengers, up three percent.

Canada Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 6.489 6.2% 27.5% 0.6
   Non-U.S. Citizens 17.067 2.8% 72.5% -0.6
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 11.054 4.2% 46.9% 0.2
   Foreign Flag Carriers 12.501 3.3% 53.1% -0.2

Mexico air traffic accounted for 19.1 million passengers, 11 percent of all international traffic, and was up seven percent. U.S. citizen travel (11.7 million) increased eight percent and comprised 61 percent of air traffic. Mexicans, and other foreign national air travelers (7.4 million) transiting through Mexico, increased by five percent, with market share 39 percent.

U.S. flags carried 14.7 million passengers, up six percent from last year, and their share slipped to 77 percent. Foreign flags carried 4.4 million passengers, up 10 percent increasing share to 23 percent.

Mexican Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share % Pt. chg.
   U.S. Citizens 11.708 7.8% 61.4% 0.6
   Non-U.S. Citizens 7.360 5.1% 38.6% -0.6
         
   U.S. Flag Carriers 14.700 5.7% 77.1% -0.7
   Foreign Flag Carriers 4.367 10.3% 22.9% 0.7

November 2013 Year-to-Date

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

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. London Heathrow (LHR) 13.193 1.6%
2. Toronto (YYZ) 9.942 4.2%
3. Tokyo Narita (NRT) 8.799 0.0%
4. Frankfurt (FRT) 6.211 1.7%
5. Paris/de Gaulle (CDG) 5.897 3.9%
6. Cancun (CUN) 5.637 7.5%
7. Mexico City (MEX) 5.299 8.6%
8. Incheon (ICT) 4.592 5.5%
9. Amsterdam (AMS) 4.270 5.1%
10. Vancouver (YVR) 4.080 0.1%

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

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. New York (JFK) 24.394 5.0%
2. Miami (MIA) 18.198 4.3%
3. Los Angeles (LAX) 16.237 3.4%
4. Newark (EWR) 10.665 0.8%
5. Chicago (ORD) 10.290 4.5%
6. Atlanta (ATL) 9.341 3.6%
7. San Francisco (SFO) 8.923 3.3%
8. Houston (IAH) 8.204 2.8%
9. Washington Dulles (IAD) 6.363 3.9%
10. Dallas-Ft Worth (DFW) 6.111 11.6%

Top 10 Airlines(2) Serving U.S. International Non-Stop Markets:
102.7 million Passengers, 60% of Total Air Traffic

    Passengers (millions) % Chg y-o-y
1. United Airlines 27.171 1.4%
2. American Airlines 20.309 1.5%
3. Delta Air Lines 19.846 7.4%
4. US Airways 7.558 2.5%
5. British Airways 6.359 3.3%
6. Air Canada (mainline) 5.520 -8.0%
7. Lufthansa 5.014 3.7%
8. Jet Blue Airways 4.218 10.4%
9. West Jet 3.528 8.8%
10. Air France 3.171 -2.1%

Monthly % changes (Notes):
Easter/Passover was ‘earlier’ in 2013 (March 31) vs. 2012 (April 8).
Thanksgiving occurred later in 2013 (Nov. 28) than in 2012 (Nov. 22).

Later this month NTTO will publish the November 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, October: 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.