TI News: An information service from the Office of Travel & Tourism Industries (OTTI)

February 05, 2013

November 2012 U.S.-International Air Passenger Traffic, 13.3 Million, Up 7 Percent

November Year-to-Date Total U.S.-International Air Traffic Up Seven Percent
Foreign Citizen and Foreign Flag Traffic Growth Outpaced U.S. Citizens and Carriers

Performance metrics reported are:

• Total 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.

Summary of January through November 2012:

International air traffic to/from the United States ⁽¹⁾ totaled 162.9 million passengers from January through November 2012, a seven percent increase over the first eleven months of 2011.

U.S. citizen air travel (72.2 million) increased four percent and comprised 44 percent of all air traffic. Foreign national (non-U.S. citizen) air travelers (90.7 million) increased by nine percent, increasing share of the total market from 54 to 56 percent.

U.S. airlines carried 87.5 million passengers, up five percent, however their share dropped one percentage point to 54 percent. Foreign flags carried 75.4 million passengers, up 10 percent from January-November 2011, with their share increasing to 46 percent.

November air traffic was up seven percent from November 2011, disclosing an upturn.

International is the total of overseas, Canada and Mexico regions, as follows:

Overseas air traffic accounted for 122.3 million passengers, 75 percent of all international air traffic for year-to-date.

U.S. citizen travel (55.2 million) increased four percent and comprised 45 percent of all overseas air traffic. Foreign national air travelers (67.1 million) increased by ten percent, increasing market share to 55 percent, a one percentage point increase in share between 2011 and 2012.

U.S. airlines carried 63.0 million passengers, up five percent, and their share remained at 52 percent. Foreign flags carried 59.3 million passengers, up nine percent from the first eleven months of 2011. Their traffic share remained at 48 percent.

Total air traffic to/from overseas regions for the year performed as follows:

North American markets (Canada and Mexico) accounted for 25 percent of U.S. international air traffic flows.

U.S.-Canada air traffic accounted for 22.7 million passengers, 14 percent of all international traffic, and was up seven percent year-to-date.

U.S. citizen travel (6.1 million) increased five percent and comprised only 27 percent of air traffic in the market. Canadian, and other foreign national citizen air travelers transiting through Canada (16.6 million), increased by eight percent with their market share remaining at 73 percent.

U.S. flags carried 10.6 million passengers, up three percent, and their share dropped from 49 to 47 percent. Foreign flags carried 12.1 million passengers, up 11 percent increasing their share to 53 percent.

U.S. - Mexico air traffic accounted for 17.9 million passengers, 11 percent of all U.S. - international traffic, and was up seven percent year-to-date.

U.S. citizen travel (10.9 million) increased three percent and comprised 61 percent of all air traffic. Mexicans, and other foreign national air travelers (7.0 million) transiting through Mexico, increased by 13 percent increasing their market share to 39 percent.

U.S. flags carried 13.9 million passengers, up two percent from 2011, and their share dropped from 81 to 78 percent. Foreign flags carried 4.0 million passengers, up 26 percent increasing share to 22 percent.

Top 10 Foreign Airports (Passenger Traffic to/from U.S.) November 2012 YTD:
Accounted for 40 Percent of U.S. - International Air Traffic

Top 10 U.S. Airports (Passenger Traffic to/from Foreign Airports) November 2012 YTD:
Accounted for 70 Percent of All U.S. - International Air Traffic

Top 10 Airlines Serving U.S. International Non-Stop Markets November 2012 YTD:
Accounted for 61 Percent of All U.S. - International Air Traffic
WestJet Moves up to Ninth Position

* United Airlines and Continental merged operations on March 7^th

In the near future OTTI will publish the November 2012 U.S. Citizen Outbound report, which contains total monthly travel (all modes) to Canada and Mexico.
See: http://www.tinet.ita.doc.gov/view/m-2012-O-001/index.html.

A description of OTTI’s program based on DHS APIS/ “I-92” data: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/programs/i92/index.html includes subscription prices for detailed country and port level reports which are available in Excel and Adobe. See actual report: http://tinet.ita.doc.gov/research/programs/i92/2006_I92_Air_Travel_Statistics.pdf

U.S. Department of Commerce
International Trade Administration
Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI)
1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Room 10003
Washington, D.C. 20230
Phone: (202) 482-0140
Website: www.tinet.ita.doc.gov
Email: otti@trade.gov

⁽¹⁾ This reflects non-stop air-only data. A portion of the non-stop passenger traffic to 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 slightly exceed what has been reported by Airlines for America (A4A). A4A reports mainline numbers for most of their member carriers. A4A classifies Canadian air travel as ‘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-92/APIS however is not inclusive of Pacific inter-port or other ‘beyond’ traffic.