Through the first half of the year, Miami International Airport (MIA) has served nearly 26.2 million passengers, achieving an increase of 2.6% over its record-breaking year in 2022 and putting the airport on pace for more than 52 million travelers in 2023. Through the month of June, international passengers at MIA leaped by 12% to 11.4 million while domestic passengers dipped by 3.6% to 14.8 million, according to audited statistics recently released by MIA.
“On the heels of last year’s full recovery from the pandemic downturn, MIA continues to lead the way for our local tourism industry and the nation in terms of passenger growth and economic impact,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (pictured at left). “I look forward to welcoming new and returning visitors to our beautiful paradise and continue to invest in our local economy.”
Through June, MIA remained the fastest-growing U.S. airport serving more than 30 million passengers since 2019, according to Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA Industry Metrics, Summer 2023, page 24). MIA's busiest travel days are expected to be the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday before Christmas Day, the Friday before New Year's Day, and the Thursday and Friday after New Year's Day, when the airport projects more than 157,000 passengers on each day.
For easier leisure travel, consider Wednesday and Thursday, excludes Thanksgiving Weekend. Saturdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays also come in as the cheapest days to fly, because they're not popular travel days. Due to popularity, Sundays and Fridays are usually the most expensive days to fly.In 2022, MIA served nearly 50.7 million passengers to shatter its previous record of 45.9 million set in 2019 by 10 percent. MIA’s growth trend is expected to continue through the rest of 2023, thanks to a variety of service launches scheduled in the second half of the year.
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Founded in 1928, MIA is America's busiest airport for international passengers and international freight, offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other U.S. airport, and boasts a lineup of over 90 air carriers. According to a county news release, MIA served more than 50.6 million passengers in 2022, shattering its record of 45.9 million set in 2019 by nearly 10%. MIA also surpassed Orlando International Airport's 50.1 million travelers in 2022 by half a million.
Miami International Airport contains three terminals (North, Central, and South) and six concourses for a total of 131 gates. With the exception of Concourse G, all concourses contain gates to access U.S. Customs and Border Protection facilities. Concourse D contains 51 gates.
In July, American Airlines announced that it will operate its largest winter schedule ever at MIA, starting in November. With more than 380 peak-day flights serving 150 destinations, American will grow its seat capacity by 10% from Miami this winter compared to winter 2022 and solidify its position as the busiest airline at MIA.
American’s winter schedule also includes the launch of year-round service to two new domestic routes (Portland, Oregon and Sacramento, California) and seasonal service to five other domestic cities (Buffalo, New York; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Lexington, Kentucky (LEX); Wichita, Kansas; and Wilmington, North Carolina), beginning in November and December. On September 18, low-cost carrier Norse Atlantic Airways will relocate all its South Florida flights to MIA, starting with four weekly flights to both London (Gatwick) and Oslo – two destinations not currently served with nonstop flights at MIA. Three months later, the airline will launch four weekly Miami-Paris flights on December 12 and a weekly Miami-Berlin flight on December 14, creating the first nonstop service between Miami and Berlin since 2017 and the second nonstop option between MIA and Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Alaska Airlines will also launch daily Portland, Oregon service at MIA on November 17, to expand on the daily Seattle-Miami flights it began last June after a 10-year hiatus from Miami service.