by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 10:40 AM ET, Thu April 25, 2024
This March, the country saw an increase in air travel between the United States and Europe, according to recently released data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO).
U.S.-international air traffic passenger enplanements totaled 22.55 million travelers, up 14.6 percent year over year. Additionally, this number is over 105 percent what it was in March 2019, showing just how strong the desire is to travel internationally across the world. In February, NTTO predicted the U.S. to surpass last year's international visitation numbers, reaching 77 million.
Additionally, air travel between Europe and the U.S. also increased 8.5 percent year over year, due largely in part to travelers desiring to travel outside of traditionally popular travel seasons.
American citizens are flying off to countries around the world more than last year, too. Just under 6.5 million travelers headed from the U.S. to countries around the world, up nearly 14 percent from the year prior, and up nearly 20 percent from March 2019.
Travelers heading to the U.S. from other countries totaled over five million, up 16.8 percent from the same month in 2023. This is the only number that hasn’t totally recovered from 2019. It’s currently just under, at 96.2 percent of the pre-pandemic March total.
Yet it’s not all bad. March 2024 was the thirteenth consecutive month that overseas visitor arrivals totaled over two million.
While less travelers from Asia and Europe visited the United States in March than they did prior to the pandemic, more American travelers are heading to Europe and Asia more now than in 2019. Additionally, South America, Central America and the Caribbean grew for both arrivals and departures, up nearly 15 percent from March 2019.
The most popular international airports in March were New York’s JFK, Miami, Los Angeles, Newark and San Francisco. Top international airports serving U.S. locations include Cancun, London Heathrow, Toronto, Mexico and Paris.
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