96 international routes due at Miami International Airport by June

With more returning international services flying from and to Miami International Airport, an upward trend in air traffic is emerging.

From the 11,874,227 year-to-date passengers that flew at MIA before the pandemic on 86,514 flights, there has been now a 5.2% increase in passengers, at 12,486,622, and a 6.8% increase in flights, at 92,360, in 2022, according to the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. But comparing instead to last year, there has been a percent increase of 108.1%, with 6,487,703 more passengers, and a 68.7% increase in flights, with 37,616 more.

Out of those flights, this year, 15,376 have been cargo flights and 11,040 passenger flights.

“Year to date, passenger traffic at MIA is 3% above its pre-pandemic level, up from 12.1 million passengers in 2019 to 12.5 million in 2022,” said Greg Chin, communications director of the county’s aviation department.

Total passengers from last March to this March increased 88.7%, at 4,658,926 passengers last month from 2,468,866 last year in March. There has also been an increase of 49.2% in flights, from 21,632 flights last March to 32,270 this year, according to the county’s statistics.

“Through February, MIA’s passenger mix has been 38% international and 62% domestic,” Mr. Chin said. “Last February, international passengers only accounted for 32%.”

During the last day of March, 26,424 international passengers arrived at MIA in 174 flights, with only one cancellation. International departures accounted for 25,857 passengers, 175 flights and three cancellations. Domestically, 46,354 passengers arrived and 41,073 departed from MIA, with three cancellations from flights coming to Miami and 17 leaving Miami.

The resurging trend, Mr. Chin said, is expected as more international airlines are resuming services soon. Avianca Airlines began daily service from Cartagena, Colombia, on March 28; Turkish Airlines on March 30 increased its daily Istanbul service to twice daily, and TUI Airways resumed twice-weekly service from Brussels on April 2.

In addition, American Airlines is to begin daily Anguilla service April 5; Royal Air Maroc will resume twice-weekly service from Casablanca, Morocco, on April 10; Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes (GOL) will resume four weekly flights to Brasilia, which is to increase to daily services in July; and Air France will increase its service to Paris to twice daily in July, said Mr. Chin.

“With the addition of Southwest, JetBlue and Spirit Airlines within the last year and a half, we have nine scheduled US passenger airlines now, instead of six US airlines we had in 2020,” he added.

In 2020, MIA had 104 international routes, compared to the 92 that it currently has. Out of those 92 this year, 40 routes are foreign passenger and cargo carriers, including Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeromexico, Air Canada, British Airways, Caribbean Airlines, Cayman Airways, Emirates, and Iberia.

MIA also serves 71 non-stop cities in the US, two in Canada and 18 in South America, compared to its 2020 non-stop service, which included 59 US cities, five Canadian cities, and 24 cities from South America.

By July, Mr. Chin said, MIA should expect to grow its international routes to 96.