US Airlines Record Pandemic's First Yearly Passenger Increase In March - Transport Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) US airlines carried almost 10 percent more passengers in March 2021 compared to March a year earlier, the first increase since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics said on Thursday.

"The reporting airlines carried 42.6 million passengers in March 2021 (preliminary), compared to 38.9 million passengers in March 2020. The systemwide increase was driven by a 14% increase in the number of domestic passengers (39.2M). Over the same period, the number of international passengers (3.4M) declined by 26%, the smallest year-over-year decline since February 2020," a press release from the bureau read.

March 2020 marked the first month in which airline travel was reduced by COVID-19, with total passengers - domestic and international - falling 47 percent from pre-pandemic March 2019, the release added.

The US airlines have reported noticeable increases in leisure travel, although business travel remains depressed as well as international travel, due to COVID-19 restrictions blocking entry into some countries with other nations requiring quarantine periods for arriving travelers.