• India emerged as the world’s fifth biggest aviation market, handling 241 million passengers in 2024, according to data released by International Airport Transport Association (IATA).

• IATA, which represents around 350 airlines, released the latest edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) for 2024 on August 5.

• Updated annually with data from over 240 international airlines, the WATS database provides a complete overview of airline metrics related to demand, supply, and performance. 

Top Passenger Countries

• The United States remains the world’s biggest aviation market with 876 million passengers in 2024 on the strength of its domestic market, growing 5.2 per cent year-on-year.

• China was the second-biggest passenger market, with 741 million passengers, a growth of 18.7 per cent compared to 2023.

• While India stood at the 5th place, the UK at the third spot (261 million passengers) and Spain at the fourth position (241 million).

• India saw 211 million air passengers last year, a growth of 11.1 per cent compared to 2023.

• The figures include all international and domestic passengers departing or arriving in each country.

Top Airport Pairs

• Asia Pacific dominated the ranking for the world’s busiest airport pairs, with Jeju-Seoul (CJU-GMP) the most popular route globally, with 13.2 million passengers flying between the two airports in 2024. 

• Among the top 10 airport pairs, Mumbai-Delhi was the seventh busiest, carrying 5.9 million passengers in 2024.

Most Used Aircraft

• Narrow-body aircraft from Boeing and Airbus were among the most used aircraft in 2024. Boeing 737 aircraft (including all variants) flew 10 million flights with 2.4 trillion Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) in 2024.

• This was followed by the Airbus A320 with 7.9 million flights and 1.7 trillion ASKs and the Airbus A321 with 3.4 million flights and 1.1 trillion ASKs.

• Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) measure an airline’s carrying capacity. ASKs are calculated by multiplying the number of available seats by the distance flown, providing insight into the supply side.

Premium Classes Show Strong Growth

• International premium class travel — business and first class — grew by 11.8 per cent, outpacing growth in global economy travel of 11.5 per cent. 

• The total number of international premium-class travelers in 2024 was 116.9 million (6 per cent of total international passengers).

• Growth in premium travel exceeded economy class travel in Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America. 

• Europe remained the largest market for international premium travel, with 39.3 million premium passengers while premium travelers as a percentage of all travelers were highest in the Middle East at 14.7 per cent.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)