The international is back in DFW International Airport.
DFW International Airport flew more flights and hosted more passengers headed to international destinations in April than it did during the same month in 2019, a remarkable feat after two years of pandemic restrictions and skepticism that crushed consumer desires to travel abroad.
Buoyed by new service from carriers such as Turkish Airlines and Finnair, DFW Airport hosted 770,000 arriving and departing international passengers in April, the best month for travelers flying in and out of the United States since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Those numbers propelled DFW to its first month where it has exceeded pre-pandemic traffic figures for combined domestic and international travel.
“People are becoming a bit more adventurous, and it’s staggering how the world has reopened,” said OAG senior analyst Jon Grant. “I think everyone is surprised at how strong the international recovery has been.”
DFW’s April numbers beat the 717,000 international passengers that the airport hosted in April 2019 by 7%, according to the most recent data for the airport. It’s a vast improvement from the 26,198 passengers the airport saw in April 2020, the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic for air travel.
DFW’s recovery comes as foreign flying is rebounding across the country and worldwide with antsy travelers looking to use expiring miles, spend unused vacation time and get away to more ambitious locales for the first time in nearly three years.
The recovery has been uneven depending on where travelers are looking to go, guided by disparate COVID-19 restrictions still underway in many places such as China and South Asia. But Americans, it seems, are ready to travel abroad again, and foreign tourists want to visit American sites.
Spending on airline tickets with foreign carriers was up about 9% for the week ending June 4, according to a report released Wednesday from Bank of America based on its internal credit card data.
Pushing American travelers abroad are the dropped COVID-19 restrictions in many parts of the world and a strong U.S. dollar that makes money go further in places such as Europe, Grant said.
The U.S. government dropped COVID-19 testing for reentry into the United States after pressure from the travel industry, although Grant doesn’t think the looser requirements will affect the numbers much because people were either willing to take the risk or they were finding ways around the testing mandate. However, United Airlines reported Wednesday that it has seen increases in searches for foreign travel since the restrictions were lifted.
Transatlantic travel has been the fastest-growing of any international travel segment, particularly for Americans traveling to tried-and-true destinations such as London, Paris, Rome and Madrid, Grant said.
DFW Airport hosted 2,803 international flights in April, 107 better than during the same month of 2019. And there are more destinations, 61 in all, served by more carriers out of DFW than there were three years ago.
Fort Worth-based American Airlines operated 80% of those international flights out of DFW in April.
At DFW, European travel has been strong, with Finnair, Iberia and Turkish Airlines adding new service in recent months. But most of the credit goes to Mexico, the shining bright spot during the last two years with few restrictions luring American tourists to sandy beaches and resorts.
Airlines flew 17% more flights to Mexico from DFW than they did in April 2019, more than 1,500 in all to 23 destinations, according to flight schedule service Cirium. That’s more flights, more seats and more cities than before the pandemic.
“Mexico never closed and DFW fulfills a role as a bit of a hub into Mexico,” Grant said.
Traffic is only expected to pick up this summer, with DFW expecting overall passenger numbers through Labor Day to reach about 99% of 2019 levels, said spokesman Brian Brooks.
The airport will add eight more international destinations this summer, with both foreign operators and low-cost carriers moving in to take advantage of summer demand. The airport expects about 23 million passengers between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Brooks said.
“Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is preparing for a very busy summer as travel continues to rebound,” Brooks said.
