IATA: ‘Never as many airline passengers as in 2024’

Travel by air has never been more popular. Last year, airlines worldwide counted around 4.89 billion passengers, an improvement from the record of 4.54 billion in 2019, the International Organization of Airlines (IATA) announced.

The average aircraft load factor reached 83.5%, which is also a record. IATA expects global air traffic to increase by 8% by 2025.

Asia-Pacific at the top

“It has become abundantly clear in 2024 that people want to travel,” IATA chief Willie Walsh commented. International travel (+13.6%) was the main driver of the trend, while domestic flights increased by only 5.7%.

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region were the most dynamic (+16.9% traffic over a year), consolidating first place in this geographic zone, with 33.5% of global air traffic. European airlines ranked second with 26.7% of traffic, up 8.7% year-on-year, while North American airlines completed the top three with 22.9% of global traffic, up 4.6%.

The greatest number of domestic flights took place in the United States (14.4%), followed by China (11.3%) and India (1.7%), although the standout performer for 2024 domestic RPK was once again China, which increased by 12.3% over 2023.

IATA, which represents 340 airline companies, expects global air traffic to increase by 8% this year and reach 5.2 billion passengers in 2025, a new record.

Air cargo transport also broke records last year. With the success of online commerce and geopolitical tensions negatively impacting sea freight, volumes grew 11.3% in one year.

SAF problem

In announcing the figures, Walsh also referred to the airlines’ commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. While airlines invested record amounts in purchasing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in 2024, less than 0.5% of fuel needs were met with SAF.

As is well known, there is a general shortage of SAF and high prices. According to Walsh, governments could fortify their national energy security and unblock this problem by prioritizing renewable fuel production from which SAF is derived.

Walsh said that in addition to securing energy supplies and increasing the SAF supply, diverting a fraction of the subsidies given for fossil fuel extraction to support renewable energy capacity would also boost prosperity through economic expansion and job creation.

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