How Many Flights Per Day? Airline and Flight Statistics (2023)

Dec 08, 2020

People have always been fascinated by airplanes and flying. Looking up at the sky and seeing planes take off and land has been an exciting past time for many plane enthusiasts. Sometimes it's fun to imagine how many people are flying at any given time, where they are going, and how many people travel to and from every day.

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If you have ever spent a small amount of time in an airport, you may have noticed how busy and transient it may be. While looking at all of those people who come and go from their destination, it's easy to get lost in one’s imaginations and wonder just how many flights an airport sees a day, how many planes are in the air at any given time, or how long the average flight is.

Below are some of the top commercial flight statistics on people flying, planes in the air, flights per day, and the number of airports.

Statistics (Editors Picks)

US Commercial flight carriers are currently conducting about 5,670 passenger flights daily.
Roughly 100,000 flights take off and land every day all over the globe.
Say an average length of a flight is two hours; that would mean that six million people fly somewhere every day. That’s nearly 0.1% of the entire world’s population.
About 500,000 people are estimated to be in the air and any given time, depending on the source.
There is an average of 9,728 planes carrying 1,270,406 passengers in the sky at any given time.
As of 2019, there were 5,080 commercial/public airports in the US, a slight decrease from the 5,145 commercial/public airports in operation in 2014.

Commercial Flight Statistics

How many flights per day?

Photo Credit: Wonho Sung on Unsplash

US Commercial Flight carriers are currently conducting about 5,670 passenger flights daily.

People are always on the go. Even while there is a pandemic sweeping the United States, people will still travel to their destination, even if it's by plane. In March of 2019, the total flights per day averaged 176,000 commercial flights. In March of 2020, commercial flights per day averaged 145,000. Broken down, commercial flight carriers were conducting roughly 5,670 passenger flights daily. Globally, approximately 100,000 flights take off and land all over the world.

Key Statistics:

US Commercial Flight carriers are currently conducting about 5,670 passenger flights daily
In March 2019, the total fights per day averaged 176,000
In March 2020, the total flights per day averaged 145,000
Roughly 100,000 flights take off and land every day all over the globe

Sources:

Airline Passenger Statistics

How Many People Fly Per Day?

Photo Credit: Teerawanit Malikun on Unsplash

As of November 2020, the number of global airline passengers dropped to 1.8 billion people. A 60 percent drop in global air passenger traffic.

The pandemic has reduced traffic in all aspects, let it be retail, business, or travel. In November 2020, the number of airline passengers dropped to 1.8 billion people. That's a 60% drop in global passenger traffic. In the United States, the average number of passengers flying per day is 1.73 million. On average, 1.73 million passengers fly each year in the United States. There could be about 500,000 people in the air at any given time, depending on the source. To offer some perspective, if an average flight is two hours, that would mean six million people are flying somewhere every single day or 0.1% of the world's population. That’s a lot of people flying. However, not enough to break the world record of the number of passengers carried on one plane at once. On May 24, 1991, “Operation Soloman'' was carried out when a commercial El Al Boeing 747 carrying 1,088 passengers were flown at once in an evacuation of the Ethiopian Jews.

Key Statistics:

As of November 2020, the number of airline passengers dropped to 1.8 billion people which is a 60 percent drop in global air passenger traffic.
An El Al Boeing 747 carried a world record-breaking 1,088 plane passengers during Operation Solomon, which was involved in the evacuation of Ethiopian Jews, on May 24, 1991.
Say an average length of a flight is two hours; that would mean that six million people fly somewhere every day. That’s nearly 0.1% of the entire world’s population.
The average number of passengers flying each year in the united states is 1.73 million
In August of 2020, U.S Airlines carried 23.7 million systemwide passengers (domestic and international), which is up 11.8% from July.
About 500,000 people are estimated to be in the air and any given time, depending on the source.

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/#statisticContainer
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-passengers-on-an-aircraft/?fb_comment_id=615636465231366_786751524786525
https://www.spikeaerospace.com/how-many-passengers-are-flying-right-now/
https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-fly-domestically-in-the-United-States-each-day
https://www.bts.gov/statistical-releases

Number of Commercial Airports in the US

How many AirPorts are there in the United States?

Photo Credit: Don Daskalo

As of 2019, there were 5,080 commercial/public airports in the US, a slight decrease from the 5,145 commercial/public airports in operation in 2014.

Airports can be classified as commercial/public or private airports. Public and commercial airports are ranked by size and how much traffic they see at any given time. The larger airports can be considered international airports and see larger amounts of traffic compared to smaller ones that can only see domestic flights. Currently, there are 5,080 commercial/public airports in the United States. That's a slight decrease from the 5,145 commercial airports that were around in 2014. In contrast, there are 14,556 private airports currently operating in the United States. Private flying has seen an increasing demand in private airports to accommodate the flight enthusiasts flying for a pass time.

Key Statistics:

As of 2019, there were 5,080 commercial/public airports in the US, a slight decrease from the 5,145 commercial/public airports in operation in 2014
As of 2019, the number of private airports increased from 13,863 in 2014 to 14,556
The global commercial airplanes stand at nearly 24,000

Sources:

https://www.statista.com/statistics/183496/number-of-airports-in-the-united-states-since-1990
https://www.planestats.com/mrof_2015apr
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/by_the_numbers/

Planes in the Air

How Many Planes are in the Air Right Now?

There is an average of 9,728 planes carrying 1,270,406 passengers in the sky at any given time.

Chances are that you have looked up in the sky and wondered how many planes are in the air. Well, there is an average of 9,728 planes carrying 1,270,406 passengers in the sky at any given time. To handle all of that airplane traffic, the United States has more than 5,500,000 square miles of airspace for commercial air crafts to accommodate flight traffic. The United States air traffic control works with other airlines to ensure all planes can fly comfortably and freely without any issues or disturbances.

Key Statistics:

There is an average of 9,728 planes carrying 1,270,406 passengers in the sky at any given time
On March 30th, around 5,000 planes were flying in the sky around the world
The United States domestic airspace is 5,300,000 square miles and 520 airport traffic control towers

Sources:

https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/number-of-planes-in-air
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/charting-the-decline-in-air-traffic-caused-by-covid-19/

Conclusion

People are always on the go. Even in uncertain times, they are still willing to take a flight to their favorite destinations. On average, 500,000 passengers are in the air at any given time. They could be heading to any of the 5,000 airports in the United States. Or, maybe casually flying around as a hobby and occupying one of the more than 13,000 private airports in the US.

Sources:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/flight-capacity-united-states-coronavirus/index.html
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/charting-the-decline-in-air-traffic-caused-by-covid-19/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tamarathiessen/2020/04/01/40-percent-less-flights-worlwide-air-travel-restrictions/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/this-visualization-shows-you-24-hours-of-global-air-traffic-in-just-4-seconds/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/564717/airline-industry-passenger-traffic-globally/#statisticContainer
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-passengers-on-an-aircraft/?fb_comment_id=615636465231366_786751524786525
https://www.spikeaerospace.com/how-many-passengers-are-flying-right-now/
https://www.quora.com/How-many-people-fly-domestically-in-the-United-States-each-day
https://www.bts.gov/statistical-releases
https://www.statista.com/statistics/183496/number-of-airports-in-the-united-states-since-1990
https://www.planestats.com/mrof_2015apr
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/by_the_numbers/
https://www.travelandleisure.com/airlines-airports/number-of-planes-in-air
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/charting-the-decline-in-air-traffic-caused-by-covid-