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Christmas Travel Statistics
2019 vs. 2020 holiday travel numbers starting the Friday prior to Christmas. Note Christmas Day* fell on a Wednesday in 2019, compared to a Friday in 2020.
United States Commercial Aviation | Flights/Day
| 2019 | 2020 | % Change | |
| Friday | 30,660 | 18,889 | -38.39 |
| Saturday | 29,702 | 18,948 | -36.20 |
| Sunday | 29,018 | 18,612 | -35.86 |
| Monday | 29,896 | 18,475 | -38.20 |
| Tuesday | 27,340 | 18,451 | -32.51 |
| Wednesday | 22,213* |
18,611 | -16.22 |
| Thursday | 27,576 | 16,223 | -41.17 |
| Friday | 29,875 | 11,699* |
-60.84 |
| Saturday | 28,566 | 16,572 | -41.97 |
| Sunday | 28,837 | 18,825 | -34.72 |
Worldwide Commercial Aviation | Flights/Day
| 2019 | 2020 | % Change | |
| Friday | 105,634 | 62,024 | -41.28 |
| Saturday | 98,678 | 58,237 | -40.98 |
| Sunday | 100,282 | 59,639 | -40.53 |
| Monday | 102,412 | 57,925 | -43.44 |
| Tuesday | 92,224 | 56,341 | -38.91 |
| Wednesday | 80,728* | 58,938 | -26.99 |
| Thursday | 96,514 | 53,347 | -44.73 |
| Friday | 102,530 | 45,573* | -55.55 |
| Saturday | 96,746 | 52,666 | -45.56 |
| Sunday | 98,753 | 58,257 | -41.01 |
Tracking the Recovery
Commercial Airline Traffic - United States
Year-Over-Year
Quick Stats:
United States Commercial Airline Traffic | Weekly Average
2020 Flights/Day: 16,979
2019 Flights/Day: 27,783
Year-over-year change: -38.89%
Commercial Airline Traffic - Worldwide
Year-Over-Year
Quick Stats:
Worldwide Commercial Aviation | Weekly Average
2020 Flights/Day: 54,721
2019 Flights/Day: 95,919
Year-over-year change: -42.95%
Commercial Airline Traffic - Europe
Year-Over-Year
Quick Stats:
Commercial Aviation - Europe | Weekly Average
2020 Flights/Day: 7,218
2019 Flights/Day: 20,025
Year-over-year change: -63.95%
Commercial Airline Traffic - China
Year-Over-Year
Quick Stats:
Commercial Aviation - China | Weekly Average
2020 Flights/Day: 11,880
2019 Flights/Day: 14,209
Year-over-year change: -16.39%
Commercial Airline: Any passenger airline flights. The FAA refers to this as Part 121 traffic.
The airline numbers shown in this report do not include canceled flights.
Business Aviation Traffic - United States
Year-Over-Year
Quick Stats:
United States Business Aviation Traffic | Weekly Average
2020 Flights/Day: 8,737
2019 Flights/Day: 8,045
Year-over-year change: 8.61%
The FAA refers to these as Part 91 or 135 traffic.
About FlightAware:
FlightAware (flightaware.com) is the leading provider of real-time and historical flight information and insights to the global aviation community. FlightAware serves all segments of the aviation marketplace through best-of-breed applications and data services that provide comprehensive information about the current and predicted movement of aircraft. Through the collection, interpretation, and enrichment of hundreds of sources of data, including data from FlightAware’s own proprietary terrestrial ADS-B network spanning seven continents and in 200 countries and territories, the company is able to transform millions of raw flight data elements and deliver them as coherent, easy-to-consume flight stories. As a single source of accurate and actionable data for aviation players large and small, FlightAware is central to aviation.
FlightAware is privately held with headquarters in Houston and locations in New York, Austin, Singapore, and London.
Media Contact
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Tel: 713.622.9958
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