Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga welcomed 22.7 million passengers in the first six months of 2025, marking a slight increase over the same period last year despite a drop in travel between Canada and the United States. The latest figures from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) show that from January to June, 15 million passengers travelled internationally and 7.7 million flew domestically. In comparison, the same period in 2024 saw 22.6 million travellers, with 15.1 million on international flights and 7.5 million on domestic routes.
The April-to-June period showed stronger growth, with 12 million passengers recorded this year compared to 11.7 million in 2024, a 1.5 per cent increase. GTAA officials attribute the overall rise in traffic to solid growth in both domestic and international sectors, even as transborder travel declined due to political tensions, including recent tariff disputes and U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial suggestion that Canada become the 51st state.
Passenger numbers were also affected earlier this year by extreme weather and a five-day runway closure following a February 17 incident in which a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis crashed and caught fire upon landing. GTAA president and CEO Deborah Flint called the second-quarter performance “encouraging” given ongoing global economic and political uncertainties, noting that Pearson’s long-term infrastructure and connectivity plans remain on track.
Pearson, Canada’s largest and busiest airport, saw 46.8 million passengers in 2024, up from 44.8 million in 2023. Passenger traffic has rebounded significantly from pandemic lows, when numbers plummeted from 50.5 million in 2019 to just 13.3 million in 2020 and 12.7 million in 2021, before steadily climbing in the years since.