OREANDA-NEWS. After posting its best quarterly passenger growth since 2012 to begin the year, the pace of passenger growth at Miami International Airport picked up further steam in the second quarter of 2015. Total passenger traffic at MIA was up 5.79 percent through the second quarter compared to the same time period last year.

Through June, the global gateway welcomed 21.9 million travelers, equating to 1.2 million additional passengers compared with the first half of 2014. In keeping with first quarter trends, domestic travelers led the way with 7.23 percent year-over-year growth and totaled 11.5 million for the first half of 2015, while the number of international travelers grew by 4.25 percent to 10.4 million.

"Congratulations to the entire Miami-Dade Aviation Department team on a phenomenal start to 2015," said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. "MIA's outstanding performance is welcome news for the thousands of local businesses and residents who directly and indirectly benefit from activity at our community's top economic engine."

During the second quarter of the year, MIA added a number of new flights and destinations that helped boost already-strong passenger numbers even further. Hub carrier American Airlines introduced daily service to Frankfurt, Germany in May, and added service to Barranquilla, Colombia and Monterrey, Mexico in June, in each case giving Miami passengers a second air carrier option to those destinations. Thomas Cook Airlines also launched first-ever Miami-Manchester service in the second quarter, while XL Airways France brought seasonal Miami-Paris service back for the third year in a row. MIA's route expansion will continue later this year with expanded seasonal Miami-Helsinki service on Finnair; five weekly flights to Vienna aboard Four-Star carrier Austrian Airlines; and daily Miami-Istanbul service by Turkish Airlines, Europe's top-rated carrier.

"We're thrilled with our performance at the halfway point of 2015, and we intend to keep things going strong through the end of the year," said Miami-Dade Aviation Director Emilio T. Gonzalez. "MIA is now offering our valued customers more flights on more carriers to more destinations than ever before, and that combination is helping us to move thousands of additional passengers through our gateway every day - and there's more to come."