The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published airport-level passenger throughput up to Dec. 10, 2022. Let’s check the US air traffic status in November. Please refer to this article about how we choose specific airports as representatives for US domestic, international, leisure, and business markets.
U.S. Overall Air Traffic Status
As shown in Figure 1, the overall US air traffic had several small waves at the end of November and the begging of December. The 2022 curve exceeded the 2019 level several days before Thanksgiving but fell below it again. We expect the 2022 curve runs between the 2019 line and the 2021 line for the rest of the year.
Figure 1: US Overall Air Traffic Trend
Domestic Air Traffic Indicator
Figure 2 is the U.S. domestic air traffic indicator. Compared to 2019, the traffic peak around Thanksgiving came earlier this year. The U.S. domestic air traffic kept growing in the first part of November until Nov. 23th and then fell down. We expect the domestic traffic to be above the pre-pandemic level at the beginning of next year.
Figure 2: US Domestic Air Traffic Indicator
International Air Traffic Indicator
Figure 3 is an indicator of US international traffic. There were several small ups and downs in the 2022 traffic line in November, but the overall trend was flat. International traffic may not reach the pre-pandemic level until next spring.
Figure 3: US International Air Traffic Indicator
Leisure Air Traffic Indicator
The leisure market is doing well. As shown in Figure 4, the 2022 curve fell below the 2019 curve shortly in the middle of November but bounced back. We think the average leisure traffic may be higher than in 2019 for the rest of the year.
Figure 4: US Leisure Air Traffic Indicator
Business Air Traffic Indicator
As for the business traffic, Figure 5 shows that the 2022 curve was relatively flat in November this year. We expect the business traffic to be between the 2019 and 2021 levels for the rest of 2022, but closer to the higher end.
Figure 5: US Business Air Traffic Indicator
To summarize, US air traffic in November had a healthy growth from last year but still did not reach the pre-pandemic level in all sectors.