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The Houston Airport System (HAS) handled 3.5 million passengers in January ’22, up from 2.0 million in January ’21. Domestic travelers amounted to 2.8 million and international was nearly 685,000. This marked the fourth consecutive month with international passenger volume exceeding 600,000.

January ’22 passenger count was 25 percent lower than it was in January ’19. While traffic remains below pre-pandemic levels, demand picked up in October ’21 as COVID-19 infection rates dropped. International travel jumped in November after the U.S. relaxed restrictions for vaccinated global travelers from more than 30 countries. Air traffic continued to increase in December despite the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant and flight delays and cancellations due to bad weather and staff shortages. Demand is expected to pick up in ’22 as COVID-19 cases fall and international travel restrictions continue to ease.

HAS handled 46.5 million passengers in the 12 months ending January ’22, a 111.6 percent increase from the 22.0 million handled over the same period in ’21.

• Domestic volume totaled 38.8 million, a 107.5 percent increase from 18.7 million.
• The 12-month international passenger volume totaled 7.7 million, up 135.4 percent from 3.3 million. 

According to Airlines for America, a trade association representing major North American carriers, revenues could fully recover to ’19 levels by the second half of ’22. This forecast is based on projections from monthly sales data of the seven largest U.S. carriers.   

Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research

Heath Duran
Manager, Research
713-844-3654
hduran@houston.org

Patrick Jankowski, CERP
Senior Vice President, Research
713-844-3616
pjankowski@houston.org