(Posted 04th August 2025)
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released the latest
edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) with comprehensive statistical data for 2024.
Updated annually with data from over 240 international airlines, the WATS database provides a
complete overview of airline metrics related to demand, supply, and performance. The report includes a
detailed breakdown of scheduled passenger and cargo traffic demand, scheduled passenger and cargo
capacity, overview of the global airline fleet, and top airport pairs.
The report also provides details on the financial health of the industry with in-depth information on
operating costs and revenue, aircraft utilization and number of airline employees.
Premium Classes Show Strong Growth
A key finding from this year’s report showed that international premium class travel—business and first
class—grew by 11.8%, outpacing growth in global economy travel of 11.5%. The total number of
international premium-class travelers in 2024 was 116.9 million (6% of total international passengers).
Leading the regions in terms of percentage growth was Asia Pacific with a year-on-year growth of
22.8% with 21 million premium passengers—although it was outpaced in growth by economy class
passenger numbers, up 28.6% to 500.8 million. Growth in premium travel exceeded economy class
travel in Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America. Europe remained the largest market
for international premium travel, with 39.3 million premium passengers while premium travelers as a
percentage of all travelers were highest in the Middle East at 14.7%.
Top Airport Pairs
Unrestricted
2 IATA Launches 2024 World Air Transport Statistics Report
Asia Pacific dominated the ranking for the world’s busiest airport pairs, with Jeju-Seoul (CJU-GMP) the
most popular route globally, with13.2 million passengers flying between the two airports in 2024. In the
top 10, only one airport pair—Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) —was not in the Asia Pacific region.
Bogota-Medellin (BOG-MDE) was the busiest route in Latin America with 3.8 million passengers while
Cape Town-Johannesburg (JNB-CPT) was Africa’s busiest route, with 3.3 million passengers. New
York John F. Kennedy International Airport-Los Angeles (JFK-LAX) was the busiest route in North
America with 2.2 million passengers while Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) was the busiest
within Europe with 2 million passengers.
Most Used Aircraft
Narrowbody aircraft from Boeing and Airbus were among the most used aircraft in 2024. Boeing 737
aircraft (including all variants) flew 10 million flights with 2.4 trillion Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) in 2024. This was followed by the Airbus A320 with 7.9 million flights and 1.7 trillion ASKs and the Airbus A321 with 3.4 million flights and 1.1 trillion ASKs.
| Most Used Aircraft Globally |
|
Top Passenger Countries
The US remains the world’s biggest aviation market* with 876 million passengers in 2024 on the
strength of its domestic market, growing 5.2% year-on-year. China was the second-biggest passenger
market, with 741 million passengers, a growth of 18.7% compared to 2023.
| Biggest Passenger Markets in 2024 |
|
Unrestricted
3 IATA Launches 2024 World Air Transport Statistics Report
* These figures include all passengers (International and domestic) departing or arriving in each country.
