The US remains the world’s biggest aviation market, according to the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The latest edition of the organisation’s World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) shows there were 876 million passengers during 2024, an increase of 5.2 per cent year on year. China is the world’s second-largest passenger market, with growth of 18.7 per cent compared with 2023.
The report also revealed that the Asia Pacific region still leads the world for busiest ‘airport pairs’. The Jeju-Seoul (CJU-GMP) route in South Korea is the most popular globally, with 13.2 million passengers flying between the two airports in 2024. Of the top 10, only one airport pair – Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) – was not in the Asia Pacific.
The WATS figures are compiled annually with data from more than 240 international airlines. The report includes a detailed breakdown of scheduled passenger and cargo traffic demand, scheduled passenger and cargo capacity, and an overview of the global airline fleet. A sample report can be downloaded here.