Holiday air travel booms: Europe Up 10%, U.S. 8%, says Cirium

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

In the upcoming holiday season, there’s a positive outlook for intra-Europe an travel, with a notable increase of more than 10% in available airline seats, according to a recent analysis conducted by Cirium, a globally respected authority in aviation analytics. Similarly, the U.S. domestic travel sector is also set to experience an 8% boost compared to the previous year.

This data stems from Cirium’s Diio Mi Schedules Tool, a widely-used resource within the aviation industry for examining airline schedules across over 1,300 airlines worldwide.

Furthermore, U.S. airlines anticipate a heightened demand for sun-soaked destinations during the holiday period. The number of seats from the U.S. to Caribbean resort getaways is expected to surge by 18% in 2023 when compared to 2022, while seats to Florida will see a 14% increase. For both Europe and the United States, Cirium’s analysis was based on comparisons between December 22, 2023, to January 2, 2024, and the corresponding period from the previous year, just prior to Christmas and immediately after the New Year festivities.

In the U.S. domestic market, Cirium’s analysis of airfares for 2023 up to September 2023 (the most recent available data) reveals that the average airfare for U.S. economy tickets was $182 for a one-way journey, excluding taxes and fees. Meanwhile, in the intra-European market, the average airfare for an economy ticket in 2023 up to September was $105.55 (equivalent to €96.60 at the current exchange rates).

As of December 14, 2023, North American airlines have demonstrated robust operational performance within North America, with an average on-time performance of 85.57% and a mere 0.4% of flights experiencing cancellations. In contrast, intra-European flights have faced some challenges this December, with a 3% cancellation rate and 69.21% of flights categorized as on-time, meeting the industry’s standard “A14” benchmark (arrival within 14 minutes and 59 seconds of the scheduled arrival time). Cirium stands as the premier source for airline operational metrics, closely monitored by airlines and airports alike to gauge their operational excellence.

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