Record number of airline passengers travel into, out of U.S. in 2015

A record number of commercial airline passengers traveled into and out of the U.S. in 2015, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) said recently.

The BTS said more than 895.5 million passengers took domestic and international flights in or out of the country – an all-time high and a 5 percent jump from the previous record of 853.1 million (set in 2014).

Domestic flights were up 5 percent in 2015, while international flights saw an increase of 4.7 percent. The increase for foreign airlines was 7.4 percent more passengers over 2014; the number of passengers on international flights climbed to 199.4 million (breaking the record set in 2014).

The U.S.-based airline that posted the highest passenger numbers for 2015 was American Airlines (including passengers who traveled during the first six months of the year on its subsidiary, U.S. Airways). The foreign airline that served the most passengers flying in and out of the U.S. was British Airways.

The U.S. airport that saw the most boarding passengers was Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International. The most international passenger flights in the U.S. were boarded at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.