International tourist volume down, but ATL still expects summer travel rush

Hartsfield-Jackson, meanwhile, expects its summer passenger totals “to remain fairly stable with modest growth,” with flight capacity up 1-2% year over year, said Becky Francosky, its director of air service, data analytics, research & reporting.

That’s despite the monthly declines the airport has seen in passenger volumes so far in 2025 compared with last year, affecting nearly half the city’s reporting airlines, she said.

Adjusting for 2024 being a leap year, total 2025 passenger volume has been down 0.9% year over year from January to April, she said.

William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, said in an interview that from a tourism perspective, even though the city is likely to see a drop in international inbound travel this year, he’s hopeful the summer will stay busy.

“There are going to be some puts and takes, but I think overall, we’re going to see a really strong summer,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Hotel occupancy rates going into the summer are about 66%, he said, which tracks close to the last two years’ figures.

Credit: Ben hendren

Credit: Ben hendren

According to Oxford Economics data provided by Pate, Atlanta will see a roughly 8% decline in international visits in 2025, amounting to 112,000 fewer visitors spending $41 million less than last year.

The metro’s largest source of international visitors is Canada, with 27% of total international arrivals, he said.

Despite that, Pate pointed out Atlanta’s relative affordability and highway access make it a popular domestic destination, which helps offset the international decline.

Last year “was one of the best years we’ve had in the city in terms of tourism activity, and I think our summer is going to be very similar to what we saw last year.”

Plus, the hefty lineup of big upcoming events in Atlanta — the MLB All-Star game, sold-out Beyoncé concerts, the FIFA Club World Cup and a series of major conferences — will “more than offset any softness we might see on the international side,” he said.

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Breaking down ATL’s summer airline schedule

From Atlanta-based Delta’s perspective, summer travel demand at Hartsfield-Jackson “remains strong,” spokesperson Chelsea Wollerson confirmed to the AJC. The carrier and its partners represent nearly 80% of the city’s passenger volumes.

The company is “seeing healthy performance across the network, particularly in international markets, and we’re encouraged by how the season is pacing,” she said.

Frontier Airlines has moved forward with its launch of nearly a dozen new routes out of Atlanta this month, a 40% year-over-year growth in departures from the city, the largest increase in its network, according to spokesperson Rob Harris.

But the Denver-based carrier has also cut back on some midweek service frequency for a “handful” of routes across its network, including in Atlanta, he said, “in response to industrywide market conditions and a resulting pullback in midweek travel.”

JetBlue and Southwest Airlines have both seen “significant” declines in 2025, Francosky said, “linked to strategic shifts in each airline’s business model.”

Southwest dropped a third of its Atlanta routes this spring as it pulled back from the hub. JetBlue carried about 80,000 fewer passengers in Atlanta from January to April year over year as it struggles to break even.

Spirit as well is showing a 20% cut in its July ATL flights year over year, Francosky said. She noted its fall schedule looks more promising, with about a 50% increase compared with last year.

Despite these cuts, the airport is still preparing for some busy security screening days that could be among its top 25 in Atlanta history, she said.

Besides the July 4 holiday, those could include this upcoming weekend, as well as June 26-30 and July 24-28.

But anything past July, she qualified, is difficult to predict.