US International Air Passenger Traffic Statistics 2026
Roughly 257 million passengers flew between the United States and the rest of the world in the year to June 2025, on carriers from dozens of countries. That works out to roughly 700,000 passenger movements across US borders by air every day.
Why this matters: international flying is where the money, the crowds, and the friction all concentrate. It shapes airfares, airport queues, visa policy, and your odds of a delayed or cancelled long-haul flight. It is also the segment now sending mixed signals, with total volume at record highs even as overseas visitors to the US pull back.
Key US International Air Traffic Statistics at a Glance
- 257.1 million passengers travelled between the US and foreign points in the year-ended June 2025, counting all carriers in both directions.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - 258.7 million passengers flew US-international routes in calendar 2025, an all-time record and about 5.8% above 2019.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - Europe is the largest region, with 74.6 million US-international passengers in the year-ended June 2025.
Source: US DOT, US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025 (October 2025) - Central America ranks second at 57.7 million passengers, lifted by Mexico, the single busiest US country market.
Source: US DOT, US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025 (October 2025) - Canada is third with 30.8 million passengers to and from the US.
Source: US DOT, US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025 (October 2025) - The top three regions carry 62.9% of all US-international traffic, down 0.2 points year over year.
Source: US DOT, US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025 (October 2025) - New York JFK is the top US gateway, handling 34.6 million international passengers in the year-ended June 2025.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - London Heathrow is the busiest foreign gateway, with 17.5 million passengers to and from the US.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - United led all airlines with 35.3 million US-international passengers, just ahead of American at 34.7 million.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - US carriers United, American and Delta together moved 37.9% of all US-international passengers.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, computed 2025 - 22.7 million enplanements were recorded on US-international routes in May 2026, down 1.2% year over year but still 103.3% of May 2019.
Source: US DOT/ITA International Air Passenger data, May 2026 - Overseas visitor arrivals sat at 78.6% of their May 2019 level in May 2026, far behind the overall traffic recovery.
Source: US DOT/ITA and National Travel and Tourism Office, May 2026 - Inbound visits fell 5.5% to 68.3 million in 2025, driven largely by a 21% drop in Canadian visitors.
Source: US Travel Association, US Travel Forecast, May 2026 - Inbound visits are forecast to reach 70.6 million in 2026, up 3.4%, but a return to the 2019 peak of about 79 million is not expected until 2029.
Source: US Travel Association, US Travel Forecast, May 2026 - Global air travel is set to reach about 5.1 billion passengers in 2026 after IATA trimmed its forecast, with North American traffic growth expected at just 0.8%.
Source: IATA, Global Outlook for Air Transport, June 2026
US International Air Travel Has Fully Recovered From the Pandemic
Long-haul flying was the slowest part of aviation to come back after 2020. The chart below tracks passengers on all US-international routes, in both directions, over the past decade.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data (all carriers, both directions), computed July 2026. Figures are calendar-year totals.
The collapse in 2020 to 64.1 million passengers was steeper than almost any economic shock in modern aviation. Yet by 2023 traffic had reached 97% of the 2019 level, 2024 passed the old peak at 255.8 million, and 2025 set a new record of 258.7 million. The rebound was powered less by tourists visiting America and more by Americans flying abroad and by dense short-haul markets like Mexico and the Caribbean.
These counts are segment passengers on all carriers, both directions. A traveller flying New York to London and back is counted twice. That is why this total is far larger than the number of unique visitors, and why it is higher than the number of origin-to-destination journeys.
The Recovery Is Uneven: Flights Are Back, Overseas Visitors Are Not
A single headline number hides a split screen. Total air traffic has passed its 2019 peak, but the mix has changed. The clearest way to see it is to index each measure to its 2019 level.
Source: US DOT/ITA International Air Passenger data and National Travel and Tourism Office, May 2026. Indexed to May 2019 = 100.
Total US-international enplanements were 103.3% of May 2019, fully recovered. But overseas visitor arrivals languished at 78.6%. The gap reflects who is flying: US residents heading abroad and strong North American demand have carried the totals, while long-haul inbound tourism, especially from Europe and Asia, remains soft. For anyone tracking airline passenger traffic, the top line can look healthier than the underlying tourism economy.
The Busiest US Gateways for International Flights
International traffic is highly concentrated. A handful of coastal hubs handle the bulk of it, and the ranking says a lot about which regions drive US demand.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, year-ended June 2025 (computed). Passengers to and from foreign points, both directions.
New York JFK stands alone at 34.6 million international passengers, well ahead of Los Angeles and Miami, which tied at about 23.4 million. Miami's placement is telling: it is the primary bridge to Latin America and the Caribbean, not a transatlantic hub. The rest of the top ten mixes transatlantic gateways (Newark, Washington Dulles), the transpacific hub San Francisco and connecting fortresses like Atlanta, Chicago and the Texas hubs. See our wider breakdown of US airport statistics for how domestic volume compares.
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Which Foreign Airports Send the Most Passengers to the US
On the other end of those routes, the foreign gateway ranking reveals where the demand originates and where the highest-value long-haul markets sit.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, year-ended June 2025 (computed). Passengers to and from the US, both directions.
London Heathrow is in a league of its own at 17.5 million passengers, about 46% more than second-placed Toronto. The list then splits into three families: North American neighbours (Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, Guadalajara), European hubs (Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam), and the sun-and-sand leader Cancun. Seoul Incheon is the lone top-ten Asian gateway, a reminder of how thin the transpacific network is relative to the Atlantic.
Which Airlines Carry the Most US International Passengers
US carriers dominate their own international market, but foreign airlines still move tens of millions of passengers across US borders each year.
Source: US DOT T-100 international segment data, year-ended June 2025 (computed). Carrier group per DOT classification.
United (35.3 million), American (34.7 million) and Delta (27.6 million) occupy the top three spots and together account for 37.9% of all US-international passengers. JetBlue's fourth place is built on Caribbean, Latin American and transatlantic leisure routes. Among foreign carriers, British Airways leads, followed by Mexico's Volaris and Air Canada. For the full domestic picture, see the largest airlines in North America.
Europe, Mexico and Canada Dominate US International Traffic
Grouping every foreign point into world regions shows just how lopsided the map is. Three regions do most of the work.
Source: US DOT, US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025 (October 2025) for regional totals; DOT's published total of 259.5 million for the same period used to derive the remaining-regions share. Central America includes Mexico per DOT grouping.
Europe alone is about 29% of all US-international traffic. Central America, which in the DOT grouping includes Mexico, is roughly 22%, and Canada adds 12%. Everything else, all of Asia, South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa combined, makes up the remaining share. That concentration is why a downturn in a single market, such as Canada in 2025, can move the national numbers on its own.
The 2026 Outlook: Growth Everywhere Except, Maybe, the US
Globally, 2026 is still a growth year, but a slower one. In June 2026 IATA trimmed its forecast to about 5.1 billion passengers worldwide, with revenue passenger kilometres up 2.1% rather than the 4.9% it expected in December 2025. North America, at 0.8%, is the laggard the industry is watching.
Source: US Travel Association, US Travel Forecast, May 2026. 2026 is a forecast (F). Full recovery to the 2019 peak of about 79 million is not expected until 2029.
Inbound visits fell to 68.3 million in 2025 and are forecast to recover only partway, to 70.6 million, in 2026. Tariff uncertainty, tighter immigration enforcement and a record-length government shutdown all weighed on demand, and a sharp 21% drop in Canadian visitors did most of the damage in 2025. IATA has described the US market as broadly flat for 2026 even as global demand climbs. The 2026 World Cup, co-hosted across North America in June and July, was expected to lift inbound numbers, yet overseas arrivals in July 2026 were still 7% below July 2025. Travellers can track the wider picture in our airline industry insights.
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References and Sources
- US Department of Transportation. US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics for June 2025. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, October 2025. transportation.gov
- US Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics. International_Report_Passengers (T-100 international segment data), data through December 2025. DOT data portal. data.transportation.gov
- US Department of Transportation / International Trade Administration. International Air Passenger Travel to and from the United States, April 2026. Released June 2026. trade.gov
- National Travel and Tourism Office. International Travel Volume to and from the US, 2025-2026.trade.gov
- US Travel Association. US Travel Forecast. 7 May 2026. ustravel.org
- IATA. Global Outlook for Air Transport. December 2025. iata.org
- Bureau of Transportation Statistics. December 2025 US Airline Traffic Data.bts.gov
Methodology Note
This article draws on publicly available data from the US Department of Transportation (T-100 international segment data and the semiannual US International Air Passenger and Freight Statistics report), the International Trade Administration and National Travel and Tourism Office, the US Travel Association, and IATA. Airport, foreign-gateway, airline and calendar-year totals were computed directly from the DOT T-100 international microdata via the DOT data portal, which is confidential for six months and now runs through December 2025; the year-ended June 2025 window (July 2024 to June 2025) was used to align with DOT's published report. All these figures count segment passengers on all carriers in both directions, so a round-trip traveller is counted more than once and totals exceed the number of unique visitors reported by tourism agencies. Regional shares use DOT's published regional totals and its published grand total of 259.5 million, so the top three regions match DOT's 62.9%. Our own extract of the portal data for the same window totals 257.1 million; DOT's report tables are a snapshot taken on the day they were generated, so small differences are expected. Figures marked F are forecasts from the US Travel Association (May 2026) and IATA (December 2025); 2026 monthly data is actual through May 2026. Numbers are rounded for readability.
Author:
Amy LancelotteJob/Position: Senior Writer & Content Strategist
Amy Lancelotte is a Senior Content Writer and editorial contributor at AirAdvisor with over seven years of experience producing research-based articles for international audiences. Her work focuses on travel, aviation, and air passenger rights, with an emphasis on factual accuracy, verified data, and clear, reader-first explanations.
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