Most common domestic destinations from Portland International Airport

Air travel looks very different now than it did just a few years ago when the coronavirus pandemic grounded folks around the world, putting a halt to travel for both leisure and business.

In 2020, passenger traffic on U.S. airlines was at its lowest since the mid-1980s, with just 369 million passengers. In 2021, the U.S. started to get back to more normal air travel levels, and by 2022, the country was up to 853 million airline passengers. By the looks of it, 2023 is likely to outpace those numbers and return to pre-pandemic levels—nearly 3 million people flew in and out of U.S. airports daily as of April 2023, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration's Air Traffic Organization.

When you're at the airport, shuffling around with your roller bag, backpack, neck pillow, and water bottle among the thousands of other passengers doing the same, you're probably not too concerned with more than your flight. Is it on time? Who will be sitting next to you? Did your checked bag make it onto the plane?

But when you're not in flight mode, you may be wondering where all of the other folks at your local airport are traveling to. To answer that question, Stacker compiled a list of the most common domestic flights from Portland International using data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Destinations are ranked by total passengers from October 2022 to September 2023.

Read on to find out if your flight patterns are similar to your fellow Portland International travelers.

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#20. George Bush Intercontinental/Houston (Houston, TX)

- Passengers: 119,857 (1.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 119,712

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#19. Newark Liberty International (Newark, NJ)

- Passengers: 130,302 (1.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 76,511
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 53,732

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#18. Daniel K Inouye International (Honolulu, HI)

- Passengers: 146,341 (1.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Hawaiian Airlines: 86,899
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 59,442

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#17. John F. Kennedy International (New York, NY)

- Passengers: 149,724 (2.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 70,122
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 54,862
--- #3. JetBlue Airways: 24,740

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#16. John Wayne Airport-Orange County (Santa Ana, CA)

- Passengers: 158,679 (2.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 139,729
--- #2. Horizon Air: 12,467
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 6,474

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#15. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (Atlanta, GA)

- Passengers: 208,028 (2.7% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 207,891
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 102

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#14. Sacramento International (Sacramento, CA)

- Passengers: 214,721 (2.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 145,849
--- #2. Horizon Air: 35,967
--- #3. Alaska Airlines: 20,148

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#13. San Diego International (San Diego, CA)

- Passengers: 217,930 (2.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 198,021
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 14,251
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 3,388

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#12. Minneapolis-St Paul International (Minneapolis, MN)

- Passengers: 229,558 (3.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 192,309
--- #2. Sun Country Airlines d/b/a MN Airlines: 26,984
--- #3. Horizon Air: 5,717

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#11. Metro Oakland International (Oakland, CA)

- Passengers: 230,543 (3.0% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 187,723
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 19,922
--- #3. Horizon Air: 17,275

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#10. Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International (San Jose, CA)

- Passengers: 276,257 (3.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 161,566
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 55,911
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 29,821

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#9. Salt Lake City International (Salt Lake City, UT)

- Passengers: 293,217 (3.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Delta Air Lines: 253,849
--- #2. SkyWest Airlines: 38,791
--- #3. Alaska Airlines: 216

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#8. Chicago O'Hare International (Chicago, IL)

- Passengers: 296,801 (3.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 186,677
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 57,518
--- #3. American Airlines: 41,649

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#7. Dallas/Fort Worth International (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX)

- Passengers: 332,628 (4.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. American Airlines: 264,464
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 68,118

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#6. San Francisco International (San Francisco, CA)

- Passengers: 409,475 (5.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 224,550
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 131,116
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 43,624

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#5. Phoenix Sky Harbor International (Phoenix, AZ)

- Passengers: 439,999 (5.8% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Southwest Airlines: 143,722
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 134,376
--- #3. American Airlines: 122,361

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#4. Los Angeles International (Los Angeles, CA)

- Passengers: 496,929 (6.6% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Alaska Airlines: 216,274
--- #2. Delta Air Lines: 200,663
--- #3. SkyWest Airlines: 59,690

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#3. Harry Reid International (Las Vegas, NV)

- Passengers: 537,562 (7.1% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. Spirit Air Lines: 175,498
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 151,804
--- #3. Southwest Airlines: 137,361

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#2. Denver International (Denver, CO)

- Passengers: 595,058 (7.9% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. United Air Lines: 273,006
--- #2. Southwest Airlines: 209,744
--- #3. Frontier Airlines: 64,699

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#1. Seattle/Tacoma International (Seattle, WA)

- Passengers: 637,439 (8.4% of all passengers)
- Top carriers:
--- #1. SkyWest Airlines: 214,304
--- #2. Alaska Airlines: 211,180
--- #3. Horizon Air: 152,201

This story features data reporting by Rob Powell, writing by Jaimie Etkin, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 199 metros.

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