Miami International Airport soars 15% above pre-covid air traffic

Total passenger count at Miami International Airport continues to rise year after year, with three new international direct routes in December, and record-breaking Thanksgiving traffic.

Over the past 30 days, passenger traffic is up 13% compared to last year, and up 15% compared to 2019, said Greg Chin, communications director at the Miami-Dade Aviation Department.

Nov. 13 was the busiest day during the last 30 days at MIA, with 152,336 daily passengers and 980 domestic and international flights, followed by Nov. 18 – the Friday before Thanksgiving – with 151,946 daily passengers and 986 flights.

On Nov. 18, 2021, there were 1,013 flights, but 132,830 passengers, 4.5% fewer flights but 6.5% more passengers, according to flight information from the airport.

For the Thanksgiving travel period, 1.8 million passengers were projected at MIA from Nov. 18 through 29, a 4% increase over 2021, which was a record year, according to MIA communications. The airport projected an average of 150,000 passengers per day during the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period. The same period last year pulled 144,000 passengers.

As of Sept. 30, MIA had deplaned 813,841 international passengers that month, and enplaned 802,817 international passengers, for a total of 1,616,658 international passengers, according to the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. During the same period last year, MIA had 1,010,963 international passengers, a 59.91% increase.

MIA recorded a total of 2,102,432 domestic passengers for September, according to the department, up 22.75% from 2021, which received 1,712,819 domestic passengers.

New international routes coming up in December include Avianca Airlines starting seasonal service with three weekly flights to Bucaramanga, Colombia, and two weekly flights to Santa Marta, Colombia, on Dec. 9 and 10. Also, Air Canada will launch three weekly flights to Vancouver on Dec. 17.

Additionally, on Oct. 21 Aer Lingus resumed its Dublin service three times a week for the first time since the pandemic stopped operations.