International air passenger traffic to and from the United States fell in April 2026, with fewer overseas visitors travelling to the country despite overall volumes remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
Data released by the National Travel and Tourism Office showed that U.S.-international air passenger enplanements totalled 21.3 million in April 2026, down 3.5% compared with the same month last year. Passenger traffic still reached 101.3% of April 2019 levels.
The sharpest decline came from overseas visitation to the United States. Overseas visitor arrivals totalled 2.6 million in April, down 14.1% year over year and representing 73.5% of pre-pandemic April 2019 volume.
Non-U.S. citizen air passenger arrivals from foreign countries reached 4.5 million in April 2026, a decline of 9.8% compared with April 2025. The NTTO noted that differences in Easter travel timing between 2025 and 2026 may have influenced year-on-year comparisons.
U.S. citizen departures to foreign destinations also declined slightly. American travellers made 5.8 million outbound international trips by air in April, down 2% from the same period last year, although outbound travel remained 22.2% above April 2019 levels.
Mexico remained the largest international market for U.S. air travel, with 3.2 million passengers travelling between the two countries despite a 9.2% annual decline. Canada followed with 2.4 million passengers, down 3.6%, while the United Kingdom recorded 1.7 million passengers, down 3.4%.
Some destinations continued to post growth. Passenger traffic between the United States and the Dominican Republic increased 4.9% year over year to 955,000 travellers, while Japan traffic rose 2.8% to 900,000 passengers.
Regional data showed mixed performance across global markets. Europe recorded 6.3 million passengers, down 1.5% from April 2025 but still above April 2019 levels. South and Central America alongside the Caribbean reached 5.6 million passengers, up 2.1% year over year and 14.6% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Asia also showed growth with 2.7 million passengers, an increase of 5.6% compared with April 2025, although traffic remained below 2019 levels. The Middle East saw the largest regional decline, with passenger numbers dropping 44.5% year over year to 651,000 travellers.
New York JFK remained the busiest U.S. international gateway with 2.7 million passengers in April, followed by Miami with 2 million and Los Angeles with 1.9 million. London Heathrow was the top foreign airport serving U.S. routes with 1.5 million passengers.
The NTTO also said year-to-date overseas visitation to the United States through April was down 4.3% compared with the same period in 2025.
