International Air Traffic Snapshot for September 2014

More than 150 million travelers flew into and out of the United States through the first nine 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 67.6 million passengers, 45 percent of all U.S. air traffic, and an increase of eight percent over last year. Non-U.S. citizen traffic accounted for 83.3 million air travelers, 55 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 July 2014, see here.

Similar to August, 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 and Central America.

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:

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