El Paso International Airport (ELP) Statistics

El Paso International Airport (ELP) serves as the primary air gateway for West Texas, connecting El Paso and the surrounding border region to destinations across the United States. It also functions as a key regional cargo hub.

El Paso International Airport handles nearly 4 million passengers annually.

• In 2025, 3.84 million passengers were served, a 5% decrease from 4.04 million in 2024.
• In 2019, the airport saw 3.52 million passengers before pandemic-related disruptions.
• Traffic dropped to 1.49 million in 2020, a 57.6% decline, then recovered to 2.82 million in 2021.
• Recovery continued in 2022 with 3.67 million passengers, followed by 3.90 million in 2023.

Southwest Airlines is the largest carrier at ELP, while legacy and regional carriers maintain a strong presence.

• In 2025, Southwest Airlines accounted for about 52.8% of total passengers both arriving and departing.
• American Airlines followed with 14.5%.
• Regional carriers included SkyWest Airlines (7%), Mesa Airlines (5.6%), and Envoy Air (5.3%), operating both connecting and point-to-point flights.

As of 2025, ELP offers approximately 17 nonstop destinations served by 6 major airlines, including Southwest, American, United, Delta, Frontier, and Alaska Airlines.

• Recent network additions and expansions include new nonstop service to Nashville beginning in 2026, continued seasonal Orlando service, and increased frequencies to cities such as Denver, Austin, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
• The route network connects El Paso with major airline hubs including Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, along with leisure destinations such as Las Vegas, Orlando, Seattle, and San Diego.
• International commercial service is scheduled to return in summer 2026 with TAR Mexico launching nonstop flights to Chihuahua City, marking ELP’s first direct route to Mexico in over a decade.

ELP is a regional cargo hub, handling over 80,000 tons of freight annually.

• ELP handled 83,183 tons of cargo in 2025, a noticeable decline compared with 93,830 tons in 2024.
• Before the pandemic, the airport processed 92,360 tons of cargo in 2019.
• Cargo activity increased during the pandemic period, reaching 95,203 tons in 2020 and peaking at 103,972 tons in 2021.
• Cargo volumes remained relatively strong during the recovery phase, with 98,376 tons in 2022 and 101,420 tons in 2023, before declining again in 2024 and 2025.

Common factors affecting flights at ELP include:

• Weather at major hub airports, especially thunderstorms in Dallas, Houston, and Phoenix during summer.
• Occasional winter weather in El Paso, including snow or ice from December to February.
• Air traffic control delays at larger hubs that affect connecting flights.
• Airline operational challenges such as crew scheduling or aircraft positioning, mostly impacting regional carriers.
• Mechanical issues, though these are less frequent than weather-related disruptions.