The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has unveiled its latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) 2024 report, offering a deep dive into global air travel trends, airline performance, and passenger demand across regions.
Image used for illustrative purposes/Martin Sierra/Unsplash
The comprehensive annual report draws data from more than 240 airlines and covers all corners of the aviation industry—from scheduled passenger and cargo movements to aircraft utilisation, operating revenue, and workforce numbers.
Business and first class travel surges
One of the standout insights from this year’s report is the 11.8% growth in international premium class travel—outpacing the 11.5% increase seen in economy class. In total, 116.9 million international passengers opted for business or first class in 2024, representing around 6% of all international travellers.
Regionally, the Asia Pacific recorded the strongest growth in premium travel at 22.8%, though economy class numbers still soared higher at 28.6%, reaching over 500 million travellers.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America, premium travel grew faster than economy. Europe led in volume, clocking in 39.3 million premium passengers, while the Middle East had the highest proportion of premium travellers at 14.7%.
Asia dominates busiest routes list
The Asia Pacific region continued its dominance in terms of high-traffic airport pairs. The Jeju–Seoul (CJU–GMP) route in South Korea was the world’s busiest in 2024, with 13.2 million passengers.
Other regional standouts include:
- Africa: Cape Town to Johannesburg (JNB–CPT) was the busiest, with 3.3 million passengers.
- North America: New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX) saw 2.2 million passengers.
- Europe: The Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca (BCN–PMI) route recorded 2 million.
- Latin America: Bogotá to Medellín (BOG–MDE) led with 3.8 million.
- The Jeddah–Riyadh (JED–RUH) route was the only non-Asia Pacific pair to crack the global top 10.
Boeing and Airbus dominate skies
Boeing’s 737 series was the most widely used aircraft model in 2024, completing 10 million flights and generating 2.4 trillion Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs). It was followed by the Airbus A320 with 7.9 million flights and 1.7 trillion ASKs, and the Airbus A321, which logged 3.4 million flights and 1.1 trillion ASKs.
Top air travel markets: US and China
The United States retained its position as the world’s largest air travel market in 2024, recording 876 million passengers, driven largely by a strong domestic sector. China followed closely with 741 million passengers—a substantial 18.7% increase from 2023.
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