Air traffic through Houston airports dropped almost 4% to 5.67 million passengers in June. Hobby Airport showed a 5% decline, bringing through 1.3 million passengers, while Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) lost 3.6% of passengers over last June, bringing in 4.3 million travelers.

Year to date, air travel is down 2.6%, welcoming 30.2 million passengers through both Hobby and IAH. Of these passengers, 23.7 million are domestic travelers, down 3.5%, and 6.5 million passengers are international, up a marginal 0.6%.

Air Traffic – In the Numbers

In June, domestic travel was down 5.3% to 4.4 million passengers. Hobby Airport welcomed approximately 1.2 million domestic passengers, down 4.4%, while IAH lost about 5.6% of passengers YOY to 3.15 million. Though United Airlines showed a less than 1-point increase in domestic travel, other major airlines showed more significant declines. Spirit Airlines, an airline synonymous with budget-friendly options, showed a 34.2% decrease over last June, moving just over 212,000 passengers.

Dips in budget air options indicate tightening budgets in the economy/budget friendly sector of travel and are consistent with travel trends in other sectors of tourism. In the hotel market, as an example, economy scale hotels are showing consistent YOY decreases, while luxury hotels are maintaining growth.

International air travel maintained marginal growth in June, gaining almost 1% in total international passenger over last year. Though Hobby decreased about 11%, bringing in just over 100,000 passengers in June, Bush Intercontinental gained 2.1% in international traffic to almost 1.2 million travelers. United Airlines gained about 2% in market share of international passengers in June over last June and increased overall international passengers by 4.4% YOY. Passengers flying with British Airways gained 5.1%, while flights via VivaAerobús gained 8.8% over last June. In contrast, Southwest Airlines showed an approximate 12% decline in traffic, while Air Canada showed a 13.4% decrease.

See full stats here.

Written by Megan Henson

Pictured: Bush Intercontinental Airport