International travel is booming at Dulles – with one exception

Excepting Asia, Washington Dulles International Airport is seeing international-service passenger counts in excess – often well in excess – of pre-pandemic times.

According to figures provided in advance of the May 15 Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s board meeting, Dulles’s post-COVID growth was outperforming the average of U.S. international gateways, as well.

Figures are based on data from Innovate Airline Services, reported by Diio, and comparing 2024 traffic levels with those in 2019, before the onset of COVID.

The figures show:

• Europe: Service from Dulles is now at 120 percent of pre-pandemic levels, compared to an average rate of 106 percent nationally.

• Latin America: Dulles is at 179 percent of pre-pandemic levels; the national figure is 124 percent.

• Africa: Dulles is at 139 percent of pre-COVID levels, compared to a national value of 133 percent.

• Middle East: Dulles is at 123 percent of 2019 rates, compared to a national figure of 112 percent.

• Canada: Dulles is at 114 percent of pre-pandemic levels; the national figure is 100 percent.

Asia remains an outlier, but excluding service to China, figures are encouraging: Service from Dulles to (non-China) Asian destinations now sits at 86 percent of pre-pandemic figures, albeit slightly below the national rate of 90 percent.

For China proper, however, the passenger count at Dulles is still just 9 percent of pre-COVID levels, compared to a 33-percent rate nationally, as the Chinese government continues to restrict service.

Despite challenges in Asia, Dulles in 2023 set an all-time record in international service.