U.S. International Air Travel Declines Slightly in May 2026, Overseas Visitation Down 6.5% :: Hospitality Trends

Overview of May 2026 International Air Travel

In May 2026, international air passenger enplanements to and from the United States totaled 22.7 million, marking a 1.2% decline compared to May 2025. Despite the year-over-year decrease, this figure represented 103.3% of the pre-pandemic volume recorded in May 2019. The data, released by the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO), provides insight into ongoing trends in international air travel as the sector continues to adjust post-pandemic.

Overseas Visitation and Arrivals

Non-U.S. citizen air passenger arrivals to the United States from foreign countries reached 4.5 million in May 2026, a 4.5% decline from May 2025. This number is 82.4% of the volume seen in May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, overseas visitor arrivals (excluding Canada and Mexico) totaled 2.8 million, which is down 6.5% from the previous year. However, this figure is an improvement from April 2026, when overseas arrivals were at 73.5% of May 2019 levels, rising to 78.6% in May 2026.

Year-to-date through May 2026, total overseas visitation to the United States was down 4.8% compared to the same period in 2025. This ongoing decline in overseas arrivals indicates continued challenges for the U.S. tourism sector, particularly from long-haul markets.

U.S. Citizen Departures

U.S. citizen air passenger departures from the United States to foreign destinations totaled 6.8 million in May 2026, a slight decrease of 0.5% compared to May 2025. Despite this minor decline, outbound travel by U.S. citizens exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 22.7%. This suggests that while inbound international travel is still recovering, outbound travel by Americans remains strong.

Regional and Country-Specific Trends

Air passenger travel between the United States and other countries in May 2026 was led by Mexico (3 million passengers, down 6.7% year-over-year), Canada (2.5 million, down 0.7%), the United Kingdom (1.9 million, down 2.3%), Germany (966,000, down 7.4%), and Japan (930,000, up 2.7%).

By region, Europe saw a slight increase in air travel to and from the United States, totaling 7.5 million passengers (up 0.2% from May 2025 and up 5.4% from May 2019). South/Central America and the Caribbean experienced a 2.2% increase compared to May 2025, with 5.4 million passengers, and a 12.8% increase over May 2019. Asia recorded 2.8 million passengers, a 3.9% rise from May 2025 but still 15.9% below May 2019 levels. The Middle East saw a significant year-over-year decline of 23.1% to 937,000 passengers, but this was 2.6% higher than in May 2019.

Top Airports for International Travel

The leading U.S. airports for international travel in May 2026 were New York (JFK) with 2.9 million passengers, Miami (MIA) with 2.1 million, Los Angeles (LAX) with 2 million, Chicago (ORD) with 1.4 million, and San Francisco (SFO) also with 1.4 million. On the international side, the top foreign airports serving U.S. locations were London Heathrow (LHR) with 1.7 million passengers, Toronto (YYZ) with 1 million, Cancun (CUN) with 818,000, Paris (CDG) with 790,000, and Mexico City (MEX) with 733,000.

Conclusion

The data from May 2026 indicates a mixed recovery for international air travel to and from the United States. While total enplanements remain above pre-pandemic levels, overseas visitation continues to lag, and regional trends vary significantly. The ongoing fluctuations suggest that full recovery in international travel patterns remains uneven across different markets.