United States airlines are projected to carry 52.6 million passengers during the upcoming holiday period, a new record.
This would represent an average 2.9 million passengers per day from 19 December to 5 January, according to trade association Airlines for America (A4A). It would be a 1.5% increase from the same period one year ago.
“Another record holiday travel period is on the horizon, and U.S. airlines are ready to get you and your packages to destinations across the country and around the world,” said A4A CEO Chris Sununu. “We have more than one million men and women working across the industry to connect people and deliver presents to locations big and small.”
U.S. carriers will add 72,000 seats each day during the holidays to meet demand, A4A said.
The season’s busiest air travel days are expected to be 19-21 December, 26 December, and 28 December. The lightest travel days will be Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
American Airlines said it is preparing to accommodate over 12 million travellers across more than 119,000 flights.
A total of 122.4 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles (80 kilometres) from home during 20 December to 1 January, AAA projected in a separate release last week.
This is a 2.2% increase from 2024, and a new record. Holiday traveller numbers first surpassed 2019’s figures last year.
A record 8.03 million travellers will take domestic flights over the holidays, according to AAA, up 2.3% from last year. AAA expects 109.5 million Americans will travel by car, rising 2%.
For international travellers, the U.S. expanded full or partial entry restrictions to citizens of an additional 20 countries on Tuesday. It also plans to require visitors eligible for visa-free travel to disclose five years of their social media data from February.
