US air travel at record high on US, foreign carriers in 2016

US and foreign airlines in the US carried a record number of passengers in 2016, according to the government office that tracks airline traffic, besting the previous all-time high by 3.5%. US-serving airlines carried 928.9m domestic and international passengers, topping the previous record of 897.9m set in 2015, the US DoT said Monday. Air travel has risen steadily following several challenging years for the industry post-9/11, as cheaper fares and a strengthened US economy have made affordable flights more widely accessible. Last year's growth, the agency said, was the result of a 3.3% increase from 2015 in the number of passengers on domestic flights and a 4% jump in the number of travellers to and from the US. Travel is also projected to hit a record high this spring, according to industry trade organization Airlines for America, with 145m passengers expected to fly globally on US carriers between March 1 and April 30. <br/>