Consumers Want to Travel

·?????Nationwide airport passenger throughput rose and surpassed pre-pandemic levels

·?????Strong demand for leisure travel; consumers opted for international trips

·??????Domestic airlines transported more passengers on fewer flights

Nationwide airport passenger throughput rose and surpassed pre-pandemic levels (4% MoM / 12% YoY/ 1% YoY4). Demand has mainly come from leisure travelers amidst the busy summer travel season (-5% MoM / 7% YoY/ 6% YoY4). Consumers spread their wings and demonstrated strong preferences for international trips over domestic ones. Airlines with global exposure benefit, while domestic-focused airlines face tough comparisons.

On the other hand, business travel remained below pre-pandemic norms (-1% MoM/ 7% YoY/ -29% YoY4). Some of the decline is structural, as remote work replaced the need for corporate trips. It represents a significant shift in the customer composition of the industry, posing a challenge as it traditionally derived the bulk of profits from high-yield business passengers.

Scheduled flights for U.S. carriers continued to be under pre-pandemic times (4% MoM/ 1% YoY/ -11% YoY4). U.S. airlines carried more customers on fewer flights, using larger aircraft and increased seat density. Canceled flights for national carriers climbed across all periods, attributed to factors such as the wildfires in Canada and understaffed hubs (19% MoM/ 35% YoY/ 11% YoY4).

'YoY4 = comparison with July 2019