The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recently published their latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report, which gathers statistical data from the year 2024.

One significant finding from the report is that international premium class travel, including business and first class fares, increased by 11. 8% in 2024, surpassing the 11. 5% growth in global economy-class travel. The total number of international premium-class travelers in 2024 reached 116. 9 million, making up 6% of all international passengers.

Leading the regions in terms of percentage growth was Asia Pacific, with a year-on-year increase of 22. 8%, mainly due to the rise of 21 million premium-class passengers. However, premium growth in Asia Pacific was not as high as the growth in economy-class passenger numbers, which saw an increase of 28. 6%, totaling to 500. 8 million passengers.

Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and North America also experienced a higher growth rate in premium-class travel compared to economy-class travel. Europe remained the largest market for international premium travel, with 39. 3 million premium passengers, while the Middle East had the highest percentage of premium-class travelers at 14. 7% of all travelers.

The WATS report is updated annually and uses data from over 240 international airlines to provide an overview of airline metrics related to demand, supply, and performance.

Top-performing airport pairs were mostly dominated by Asia Pacific, with Jeju-Seoul (CJU-GMP) in South Korea as the most popular route globally, serving 13. 2 million passengers in 2024. Only one airport pair, Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) in Saudi Arabia, was not in the Asia Pacific region. In Latin America, the busiest route was Bogota-Medellin (BOG-MDE) in Columbia, with 3. 8 million passengers, while in Africa, the busiest route was Cape Town-Johannesburg (JNB-CPT) in South Africa, with 3. 3 million passengers. Within Europe, the busiest route was Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) in Spain, carrying 2 million passengers. In North America, the busiest route was New York John F. Kennedy International Airport-Los Angeles (JFK-LAX), serving 2. 2 million passengers.

The most commonly used aircraft by airlines in 2024 were narrowbody planes from Boeing and Airbus. The Boeing 737, including all variants, operated 10 million flights, with 2. 4 trillion Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs). The Airbus A320 followed with 7. 9 million flights and 1. 7 trillion ASKs, while the Airbus A321 had 3. 4 million flights and 1. 1 trillion ASKs.

The United States remains the world’s largest aviation market, serving a total of 876