(IN SHORT) IATA’s 2024 WATS report, drawing on data from over 240 airlines, delivers an in-depth view of global air transport metrics for the previous year. Key highlights include an 11.8% rise in premium-class traffic—totaling nearly 117 million passengers—and Asia-Pacific’s leadership with 22.8% premium growth. Jeju–Seoul topped the busiest airport-pair rankings at 13.2 million flyers, while Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s remained the workhorses of the skies. The United States and China retained their positions as the world’s largest aviation markets, with 876 million and 741 million passengers respectively. The report also covers cargo figures, fleet composition, operational costs, revenue data, aircraft utilization and workforce statistics.
(PRESS RELEASE) GENEVA, 2025-Aug-5 — /Travel PR News/ — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published its 2024 World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), compiling data from more than 240 global airlines to deliver an extensive snapshot of industry demand, capacity and performance. This year’s edition offers a granular look at scheduled passenger and cargo traffic figures, capacity metrics, the composition of the worldwide airline fleet, and the leading airport-to-airport routes. It also delves into the sector’s financial health by detailing operating expenses, revenues, aircraft utilization rates and total airline employment.
A standout insight from the report is the robust expansion of premium-class travel. Business and first-class journeys climbed 11.8% year-on-year, slightly outpacing the 11.5% uptick in economy travel. In total, premium travelers numbered 116.9 million in 2024, representing 6% of all international passengers. The Asia-Pacific region recorded the fastest percentage rise, with premium traffic surging 22.8% to 21 million passengers—though its economy segment grew even more strongly, up 28.6% to 500.8 million. Premium growth also outstripped economy growth in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America. Europe remained the largest premium market with 39.3 million passengers, while the Middle East led in premium’s share of total traffic at 14.7%.
Asia-Pacific routes again dominated the list of the world’s busiest airport pairs. The Jeju–Seoul corridor topped the global ranking with 13.2 million travelers in 2024; Jeddah–Riyadh was the only non–Asia-Pacific route to crack the top ten. In Latin America, Bogotá–Medellín led with 3.8 million passengers, and in Africa, Cape Town–Johannesburg saw 3.3 million. New York–Los Angeles was North America’s busiest link at 2.2 million, while Barcelona–Palma de Mallorca headed the European list with 2 million travelers.
Narrowbody jets from Boeing and Airbus accounted for the greatest flight numbers. Boeing 737 variants operated around 10 million flights, delivering 2.442 trillion Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs), up 6% and 9.5% respectively. The Airbus A320 family flew 7.9 million times (1.706 trillion ASKs, +4.8% flights, +6% ASKs), with the A321 variant adding 3.4 million sectors (1.124 trillion ASKs, +10.1% flights, +12.5% ASKs). The A319 saw a 6% drop in sectors to 1.4 million, while the A220 expanded 21.7% to 411,543 flights.
In national markets, the United States led all countries with 876 million passengers in 2024 (a 5.2% increase), followed by China’s 741 million (up 18.7%). The United Kingdom, Spain, India and Japan rounded out the top six, each posting double-digit growth except for the UK’s 7.3%.
For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
SOURCE: IATA (International Air Transport Association)
