Number of airline passengers hit all-time high in 2015

More passengers flew on airlines in the United States last year than ever before, according to the latest statistics from the Department of Transportation (DOT).

U.S. and foreign airlines that service the U.S. carried an all-time high of 895.5 million domestic and international passengers in 2015, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics. The previous all-time high was 853.1 million passengers in 2014.

{mosads}The overall uptick was attributed to a 5 percent increase in the number of passengers taking domestic flights on U.S. airlines and a 2.3 percent increase in passengers on international flights. Foreign airlines carried 7.4 percent more people to and from the U.S.

American Airlines, which includes passengers who traveled on US Airways for the first six months of the year, carried the most passengers overall in 2015 compared to other U.S. airlines. British Airways carried the most passengers on international flights of any foreign airline.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest U.S. airport overall last year, but more passengers boarded international flights at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport than at any other in the U.S.