Miami International Airport on target for record breaking year

Two years after the pandemic shrank global air travel to historic lows, Miami International Airport (MIA) is experiencing its busiest year ever and is on pace to surpass 50 million annual passengers for the first time in its history.

The Florida gateway’s previous annual record is 45.9 million passengers, set in 2019.

According to statistics released this week, MIA served 25.5 million passengers through the first six months of 2022, an 8.5% increase over the midpoint of the airport’s record year in 2019.

Domestic passengers led the way with an increase of 26% compared to 2019 for 15.3 million travellers year-to-date, while the international passenger count of 10.2 million was 10.5% below its 2019 level, but 102% above last year’s midpoint number, as global travel continues to rebound steadily.

MIA’s rebound since the pandemic is the strongest among all large US hubs, according to ACI-North America.

A recent report by the industry organisation ranked MIA as the fastest-growing large US airport in airline seat capacity in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2019, and one of only six US airports with positive growth during that period.

In 2021, MIA also became the busiest US airport for international passengers, remained the country’s busiest airport for international freight, and moved up among the world’s airports to 12th place for total passengers and 9th place for aircraft movements.

After two consecutive years of record-breaking growth, cargo shipments at MIA continued to soar as well with more than 1.3 million tons through June, for an increase of 3.2% over last year. International freight was up 2.7%, while domestic tonnage grew 5.8% year-over-year.

“We are thrilled to see MIA reach new heights in 2022 and to be on track for our best traffic year ever,” said MIA’s director and CEO, Ralph Cutie.

“Thanks to our airlines and federal partners, we are proudly welcoming more visitors and cargo to Miami-Dade County than ever before, and we look forward to having an even more successful second half of the year.”