Houston
IAH · KIAHGeorge Bush Intercontinental Airport
Passengers a year
46.9M
#15 busiest in the U.S.
192
nonstop destinations
53
airlines
589
departures a day
80.4%
arrivals on time
1.2%
flights cancelled
81.0%
load factor
Airlines
United Airlines is the largest carrier at Houston, with 74% of all passengers. 53 airlines fly from here.
Share of passengers · each carrier as a slice of the whole airport
United Airlines holds 74% of the airport — the 4th most concentrated of 30 large hubs. The nearest comparison is ATL at 80%.
| Airline | Share | Passengers | Seats YoY | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UA | 74.1% | 34.7M | 180 | 83.3% | +4.3% |
AA | 5.0% | 2.3M | 8 | 67.9% | +7.8% |
NK Spirit83% full | 4.6% | 2.2M | 19 | 73.4% | -31.5% |
DL | 4.1% | 1.9M | 7 | 78.4% | +3.9% |
F9 Frontier81% full | 3.4% | 1.6M | 19 | 74.5% | +19.5% |
+Other airlines | 8.9% | 4.2M | — | — | — |
Share, passengers and destinations count each airline’s own flights plus the regional flying sold under its brand. On-time covers the airline's own aircraft only — regional affiliates report to the government separately. Seats year on year compares the latest twelve months against the twelve before them.
Destinations
121 domestic and 71 international nonstop destinations from Houston, across 39 countries.
74% domestic · 26% international · by departing passengers
Top domestic destinations
United Airlines · American Airlines · Spirit Airlines · Frontier Airlines
United Airlines · Frontier Airlines
795.1K795,142 departing · 88% full
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Frontier Airlines · American Airlines
Delta Air Lines · United Airlines · Frontier Airlines · Spirit Airlines
632K631,962 departing · 73% full
American Airlines · United Airlines
608.5K608,549 departing · 84% full
United Airlines
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines · Frontier Airlines
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines
United Airlines · Delta Air Lines · Spirit Airlines
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines · Frontier Airlines
Top international destinations
Mexico City, Mexico (MEX)
436.5K436,512 departing · 852.8K852,806 both ways
United Airlines · Aeroméxico · Viva · Volaris
Cancún, Mexico (CUN)
352.8K352,754 departing · 708.2K708,214 both ways
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines · Frontier Airlines
San Salvador, El Salvador (SAL)
327.7K327,683 departing · 647.1K647,083 both ways
United Airlines · Avianca El Salvador · Volaris El Salvador
London, United Kingdom (LHR)
265.6K265,568 departing · 508.5K508,492 both ways
United Airlines · British Airways
Monterrey, Mexico (MTY)
225K225,043 departing · 444.8K444,752 both ways
United Airlines · Viva
Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL)
193.2K193,220 departing · 374.9K374,880 both ways
United Airlines · Volaris · Viva
Guatemala City, Guatemala (GUA)
191.3K191,337 departing · 377K376,957 both ways
United Airlines · Spirit Airlines
Frankfurt am Main, Germany (FRA)
187.7K187,701 departing · 371K370,978 both ways
Lufthansa · United Airlines
San José, Costa Rica (SJO)
159.8K159,835 departing · 322.5K322,487 both ways
United Airlines
Toronto, Canada (YYZ)
152.3K152,254 departing · 304.1K304,133 both ways
United Airlines · Air Canada
All nonstop destinations
192 nonstop · 26 airlines · 121 domestic / 71 intl
American Eagle · operated by Envoy Air, PSA Airlines, Republic Airways, SkyWest Airlines
United Express · operated by CommuteAir, Mesa Airlines, Republic Airways, SkyWest Airlines
Aircraft
By share of departures at Houston.
Body class · share of departures
- Regional
44,290 departures · 81% full
20.6%
- Regional
24,140 departures · 86% full
11.2%
- Narrowbody
17,470 departures · 78% full
8.1%
- Narrowbody
16,992 departures · 83% full
7.9%
- Narrowbody
15,605 departures · 83% full
7.3%
- Narrowbody
14,125 departures · 80% full
6.6%
- Narrowbody
13,991 departures · 82% full
6.5%
- Narrowbody
13,664 departures · 80% full
6.4%
- Narrowbody
8,072 departures · 81% full
3.8%
- Narrowbody
7,459 departures · 81% full
3.5%
When Houston is busiest
Departures by month over the trailing year. Bars scale to the busiest month.
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Departures a month · peak July 2025
Annual passengers since 1990
Total passengers, arriving and departing, in every year on record.
Passengers a year
Every year
- 1990
- 16,827,867
- 1991
- 17,266,010
- 1992
- 18,401,287
- 1993
- 18,887,813
- 1994
- 20,857,440
- 1995
- 23,418,867
- 1996
- 24,775,562
- 1997
- 26,991,266
- 1998
- 29,010,146
- 1999
- 30,921,113
- 2000
- 33,266,897
- 2001
- 32,755,467
- 2002
- 32,056,923
- 2003
- 32,666,835
- 2004
- 35,108,335
- 2005
- 38,304,671
- 2006
- 41,214,455
- 2007
- 41,653,584
- 2008
- 40,192,126
- 2009
- 38,698,661
- 2010
- 39,189,935
- 2011
- 39,038,571
- 2012
- 38,399,670
- 2013
- 38,309,552
- 2014
- 39,851,585
- 2015
- 41,581,085
- 2016
- 40,361,962
- 2017
- 39,345,659
- 2018
- 42,553,334
- 2019
- 44,050,860
- 2020
- 17,466,710
- 2021
- 32,748,828
- 2022
- 39,922,757
- 2023
- 44,710,515
- 2024
- 47,000,284
- 2025
- 46,702,338
- 2026
- 18,642,846 so far
Arriving on time
Of every 100 flights landing at Houston, 80 touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, 19 arrive late, and 1 is cancelled.
Every 100 arrivals
16 min
average delay
1,433
flights cancelled
117.4K
arrivals measured
What holds flights up
Share of delay minutes
Most reliable here
United Airlines 83.3%
Least reliable here
American Airlines 67.9%
Among US airports
#15
On time, month by month
J
A
S
O
N
D
J
F
M
A
M
J
Darker is better · 72.8%–88.4%
The weak spot is July 2025, when 72.8% of arrivals landed on time — 7.6 points below the year. The strongest was February 2026 at 88.4%.
Frequently asked
How busy is George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)?
George Bush Intercontinental Airport handled about 46.9M passengers over the trailing 12 months, ranking #15 among U.S. airports by passengers, with roughly 589 departures a day.
Which airline is the largest at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)?
United Airlines is the largest carrier at Houston (IAH), flying about 74% of its passengers. 53 airlines serve Houston in total.
How many places can you fly nonstop from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)?
Houston (IAH) has 192 nonstop destinations — 121 domestic and 71 international across 39 countries.
How often do flights arrive on time at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)?
About 80.4% of flights arriving at Houston (IAH) touch down within 15 minutes of schedule, per US DOT figures. About 1.2% are cancelled.
What aircraft flies most from George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)?
The Embraer E175 flew the largest share of departures from Houston (IAH), about 21% of the total.
Trip reports on YouTube
Fliers post trip reports from flights through Houston (IAH) to YouTube. These three were matched automatically from public YouTube listings — The Frequent Flier does not host, review, or endorse them.
QFS Aviation
TRIP REPORT | United Airlines - 737 900ER - Newark (EWR) to Houston (IAH) | Economy Plus
14:47 · Jul 2020
Global Aviation & Travel
REVIEW | United Airlines | Houston (IAH) - Phoenix (PHX) | Boeing 737-900 | Economy Class
21:01 · Oct 2024
Genki's Travels
United Airlines | B737-900ER | First Class | Houston (IAH) to Seattle (SEA) | Trip Report
19:50 · Aug 2023
Source: YouTube. Titles, thumbnails, and channel names come from YouTube. Playing a video loads the YouTube player, and using it means you agree to the YouTube Terms of Service; the Google Privacy Policy applies.
Departing counts passengers leaving Houston; international destinations also show both directions. Data: traffic June 2025 – May 2026, on-time July 2025 – June 2026. Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (T-100 Segment, On-Time Performance).