Record breaking year for Miami International Airport

Miami International Airport (MIA) handled a record 50.6 million passengers in 2022, nearly 10% more than its previous best in 2019.

The total included 21.3 million international passengers, 8.3 million more than 2021 but one million less than pre-COVID levels.

Compared to the airport’s total of 37.3 million passengers in 2021, when the aviation industry was still recovering from the pandemic, MIA served 13.3 million more passengers in 2022 for a giant leap of 35% year over year.

In 2022, MIA also matched its record of 2.7 million tons of freight set in 2021, by handling 2.2 million tons of international freight and 500,000 tons of domestic shipments.

Miami-Dade County Mayor, Daniella Levine Cava, said: “In addition to MIA leading our community’s successful economic recovery from the pandemic, it is again leading the way for the state of Florida as well!

“Congratulations to the MIA team and partners on surpassing 50 million passengers for the first time in its history.

“Passenger growth represents tourism revenue, job creation, and expanded opportunities in Miami-Dade County – making all county residents proud.”

Contributing to MIA’s rebound from the pandemic were hub carrier American Airlines and its subsidiary Envoy, serving 31.8 million passengers at MIA in 2022, which was 63% of the airport’s total and an increase of one million passengers over 2019 for the airline.

Since 2019, MIA has also welcomed low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and JetBlue Airways, which now rank as the airport’s second, fourth, and eighth-busiest passenger airlines in seat capacity, respectively.

Additionally, MIA’s record-breaking year in 2022 included the addition of 15 international routes: six in the Caribbean (Camaguey, Holguin, Santa Clara, Santiago de Cuba, and Varadero, Cuba; and San Salvador, Bahamas); five in South America (Brasilia, Fortaleza and Manaus, Brazil; and Bucaramanga and Santa Marta, Colombia); three in Europe (Dublin, Ireland; Paris, France; and Rome, Italy); and Vancouver, Canada.

Lastly, MIA ended 2022 with its busiest winter holiday travel period from December 21 to January 6, when 2.6 million passengers travelled through the airport – a 2.4% increase over its previous record during the same 17-day period in 2021.

“We are honoured to once again serve not only as Florida’s busiest airport for international visitors but as its busiest gateway overall,” enthused MIA director and CEO, Ralph Cutié.

“This renewed role and our new record of nearly 51 million annual passengers would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department and our partner airlines, federal agencies, concessionaires, and service companies.

“Thanks to their commitment to the Miami market, we expect continued success at MIA in 2023.”