Skift Take

International air traffic remains relatively similar when compared month-to-month; however, slight increases lead to year-end records that spur tourism development.

More than 166 million travelers flew into and out of the United States through the first ten months of 2014, a seven percent increase over the same period last year, according to data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office.

U.S. citizen travel accounted for 73.8 million passengers, 44 percent of all U.S. air traffic, and an increase of seven percent over last year. Non-U.S. citizen traffic accounted for 92.7 million air travelers, 56 percent of all traffic, and a seven percent increase over last year.

Every month, the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries releases data regarding recent travel activity, including details about international air passenger traffic to and from the United States. This is the most recent month for which this information is available. For statistics on international air traffic in September 2014, see here.

Similar to the two previous months, U.S. carriers account for slightly more market share, 52 percent, than foreign carriers, 48 percent. Again, passenger growth on foreign carriers (+10 percent) exceeded growth seen on U.S. airlines (+4 percent).
The largest markets for air traffic to and from the U.S. are Europe and Asia, which combined account for 44 percent of all international traffic.
The markets that experienced the largest growth in the first eight months of 2014 versus 2013 were the Middle East (+17 percent) and Central America (+11 percent).

A little more than a quarter, or 26 percent, of international traffic is between the U.S. and Mexico or Canada.

Air traffic between the U.S. and Canada performed as follows:

Overseas Regions Passengers (mlns) % of all International % Change 2014 / 2013
Europe 49.2 29% 5.1%
Asia 24.8 15% 5.7%
Caribbean 17.5 10% 8.2%
South America 12.4 7% 3%
Central America 8.7 5% 10.8%
Middle East 6.7 4% 17%
Oceania 3.7 2% 1.3%
Africa 1.2 1% 0.6%

Air traffic between the U.S. and Canada performed as follows:

Canada Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share
U.S. Citizens 6.6 9% 28.5%
Non-U.S. Citizens 16.6 7% 71.5%

Air traffic between the U.S. and Mexico performed as follows:

Mexican Region Passengers (mlns) % Chg y-o-y Market Share
U.S. Citizens 12 12% 62.4%
Non-U.S. Citizens 7.2 9% 37.6%
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Tags: air traffic, ntto, skiftstats

Photo credit: The outside of the iconic LAX building. Al Pavangkanan / Flickr

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