International flights to New York and New Jersey airports slumped in February, with roughly 700 fewer foreign flights arriving at the city’s airports compared to the same month last year, according to the latest data from The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
A decrease in flights and passengers from Canada is driving the trend, a tangible sign that travelers from the country are not just bristling over tariffs and combative rhetoric coming out of the White House. They’re changing plans.
International flights into both John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport dropped by 6.3% in February compared to the same time last year (down to 7,331 flights from 7,828). International flights into Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey also dropped by 5.8% year over year in February (down to 3,509 from 3,727). The decrease means thousands fewer travelers — mainly 17.8% fewer passengers on flights from Canada and 2.6% fewer on flights from Mexico — passed through the city’s airports compared to the same time last year.
“It’s definitely not a robust market,” said George Ferguson, a senior aerospace, defense and airline analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. Ferguson noted that the Atlanta-based Delta, which has a major presence at JFK and LaGuardia, has scheduled 485 fewer flights from Canada for the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. That said, Ferguson noted that there hasn’t yet been a sweeping shift by U.S. carriers to reduce international flights.
In New York, the drop in international arrivals has been starkest at LaGuardia, which is primarily a domestic airport but serves Canada and Latin America. For the month of February international flights dropped 23.8% (to 791 from 1,038 the same time last year) with the number of international passengers decreasing by 18.1% (to 48,298 from 58,958). The airport saw a 22.3% decrease in arrivals from Canada — Montreal-based airline Air Canada makes up nearly half of all the international carrier traffic at LaGuardia — and a 48.3% drop in arrivals from the Caribbean and Bermuda. LaGuardia does not serve Europe and Asia.
Meanwhile, international arrivals to JFK slipped 3.7% year over year in February (to 6,540 from 6,760) with the volume of passengers remaining relatively flat at 1.1 million. The lack of a drop in passenger volume is because carriers have consolidated total flights by flying larger planes, said Ferguson. A dip in flights from Canada also drove the airport’s international downturn. Inbound flights from Canada dropped by 31.1% year over year. Transatlantic flights dipped by 6.7%, along with a 5.2% in flights from Central and South America.
For the major local airports, flights from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Territories saw the most growth of all international flights, with a 10.1% uptick year over year for February. Somewhat surprisingly, the airports also saw an overall increase in air traffic from Mexico by 6.6%. Transpacific flights also grew by 2.2%. Transatlantic flights, which include flights from Europe, dipped by 4.7% overall year over year for February.
The data points are troubling for city tourism officials. Julie Coker, president and CEO of New York City Tourism + Conventions, said in a statement that the city is extending a warm welcome to foreign tourists through a global ad and social media campaign seeking to lure travelers to the boroughs from the United Kingdom, Japan, Chile and several other countries.
“Despite the ongoing challenges posed by geopolitical shifts, New York City remains a global beacon of hospitality,” said Coker. “We are committed to adapting to the ever-evolving landscape while continuing to market NYC worldwide.”
