Passenger Air Traffic by Country 2024

Traveling via airplane is a part of everyday life experiences. It’s one of the most efficient and effective ways to travel internationally, getting people to most parts of the world in 24 hours or less. The speed and ease of flying make it a popular method of transportation in the modern world.

Which Is the Most Flown-To Country?

After the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions were lifted, people started flying again. However, the number of flights is still lower than it was pre-pandemic. Based on data from 2019-2022, France was the most visited country based on inbound travelers. They had around 79.4 million international arrivals in 2022. Spain, the United States, and Turkey were the next three most visited countries. Three out of these four countries are in Europe, which makes sense, as Europe has consistently had the highest volume of inbound travelers for the past 15 years, even with the pandemic in the mix. In fact, around 60% of the world’s inbound tourist arrivals come to European countries, accounting for 60% of the world’s international tourism flights. As a result, travel and tourism are a major contributor to the GDP in Europe.

Tracking the number of flights into a country does not measure how many of those flights are people returning home from intentional travel. For that metric, Mexico comes out on top. It has the most international tourist arrivals by air.

International Travel Still Lower Than Previous Years

While international travel has increased since the pandemic, it still has not reached pre-2020 levels. In 2022, there were approximately 969 million international tourism arrivals, which was significantly higher than the record low of 407 million in 2020. The number is still creeping up, as the world is starting to enjoy the benefits of international travel again.