TORONTO — Travel this summer had its share of roadblocks but so far there’s been a stand-out day – July 23, when the skies saw the highest one-day total of global commercial flights ever – plus strong demand fuelled by advance bookings and not a few last-minute getaway requests.

Flightradar24 clocked July 23, 2026 at 153,359 commercial flights.

The CBC notes that concerns about Europe’s airports running out of jet fuel, airspace worries amid the Middle East tensions and other what-ifs haven’t come to pass, and that travel is showing its resilience.

Flightradar24 noted that Canadian commercial flights have been ticking higher too, up 16% from April 1 – July 23.

Amra Durakovic of Flight Centre Travel Group Canada told the CBC that she’s seeing more last-minute bookings for Europe, no doubt fuelled by a wait-and-see approach for travel to the continent as things looked iffy earlier this summer.