The 2024 edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report, released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has revealed the biggest passenger markets for the year. The top three countries were the United States, China, and the United Kingdom, with a combined total of 1. 88 billion air travelers.
The United States ranked first with 876 million passengers, driven primarily by its large domestic market. China followed with 741 million passengers, showing an 18. 7% increase from the previous year. The United Kingdom came in third with 261 million travelers, reflecting a 7. 3% increase year-on-year. These numbers include both domestic and international traffic, indicating a strong rebound in global passenger markets.
The WATS report, which is compiled from data provided by over 240 airlines, offers a comprehensive view of global air transport performance. It includes statistics on passenger and cargo traffic, capacity, airline fleets, financial health, and operational efficiency. This annual publication provides valuable insights into airline trends and emerging market dynamics.
A notable trend highlighted in the 2024 report was the significant recovery of global passenger markets, particularly in premium-class travel. International business and first-class traffic grew by 11. 8%, slightly outpacing the growth in economy-class travel at 11. 5%. In total, premium-class travelers reached 116. 9 million, making up 6% of all international passengers.
In terms of regional passenger markets, Asia Pacific led with a 22. 8% increase in premium-class traffic, totaling 21 million passengers. However, economy-class growth in the region saw a larger surge, increasing by 28. 6% to 500. 8 million passengers. In other regions such as Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East, premium-class growth was higher than economy-class growth.
Europe recorded the largest volume of premium international passengers at 39. 3 million, while the Middle East had the highest percentage share of premium travelers at 14. 7%. The report also provided data on air traffic by route, with the Jeju-Seoul (CJU-GMP) route in South Korea remaining the world’s busiest air corridor, carrying 13. 2 million passengers in 2024.
In terms of top airport pairs globally, Asia Pacific dominated the list, with the only non-Asia Pacific route being Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) in Saudi Arabia. For other regions, the report listed the top intra-regional routes: Cape Town-Johannesburg (CPT-JNB) in Africa, Bogota-Medellin (BOG-MDE) in Latin America, New York JFK-Los Angeles (JFK-LAX) in North America, and Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) in Europe.
In terms of aircraft utilization, Boeing and Airbus narrowbody jets were the most used worldwide.