Geneva, Switzerland: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), offering a detailed overview of global air transport demand, capacity and operational performance through 2025, alongside data on airline fleets, busiest routes, employment and financial performance.
The annual statistical collection draws on data from 1,315 airlines included in IATA’s Annual Statistics collection, with more than 250 international airlines making specific data contributions to WATS. The report provides a broad picture of how the global aviation industry evolved in 2025, highlighting the continued expansion of premium travel, strong passenger growth in several emerging markets and major shifts in aircraft utilization.
International premium-class travel recorded notable growth in 2025. The number of passengers flying business and first class reached 109.7 million, representing a 4.5% increase from the previous year. Premium travelers accounted for 5.5% of all international passengers during the year.
Latin America recorded the strongest growth in premium-class travel, with passenger numbers increasing 22.1% to 4.0 million. Europe remained the largest premium travel market, recording 39.7 million premium-class passengers. However, when measured as a proportion of total passenger numbers, North America had the highest premium-class share at 10.4%, followed by the Middle East at 9.5%.
Asia Pacific continued to dominate the world’s busiest airport-pair rankings in 2025. Jeju International Airport and Seoul Gimpo International Airport in South Korea retained the top position, with 13.3 million passengers traveling between the two airports.
The strength of domestic aviation in the region was evident across the rankings. Nine of the world’s 10 busiest airport pairs were located in Asia Pacific, while the only route outside the region was the domestic connection between King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. All 10 of the world’s busiest airport pairs were domestic routes.
At the regional level, Cape Town International Airport and Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport formed Africa’s busiest airport pair, carrying 3.4 million passengers in 2025.
In Latin America, Bogotá’s El Dorado International Airport and Medellín’s José María Córdova International Airport ranked as the busiest airport pair, with 3.5 million passengers.
Europe’s busiest airport connection remained the route between Barcelona’s Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport and Palma de Mallorca, carrying 2.1 million passengers. Meanwhile, Stockholm Arlanda Airport and Malmö Airport recorded the fastest growth among European airport pairs, with passenger numbers jumping 85% to 271,031.
In North America, New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport were the busiest domestic airport pairs, with 2.2 million passengers. JFK and London Heathrow ranked as the busiest international airport pair from North America, carrying 2.1 million passengers.
The United States remained the world’s largest passenger market in 2025, recording 890.1 million passengers arriving in or departing from the country. However, passenger numbers grew only 1.6% from 2024, the slowest growth among the world’s 10 largest passenger markets.
China retained second place with 776.1 million passengers, an annual increase of 4.8%. The United Kingdom ranked third with 269.7 million passengers, followed by Spain with 252.7 million and Japan with 223.5 million.
India ranked sixth among the world’s biggest passenger markets, recording 218.2 million passengers in 2025, up 3.3% year on year. Italy followed with 187.3 million passengers, while Germany recorded 163.8 million. France and Türkiye rounded out the top 10, with 152.6 million and 129.3 million passengers, respectively.
Several Central Asian markets posted particularly strong growth. Kazakhstan recorded a 40% increase in passenger numbers to 18.1 million, making it one of the fastest-growing markets globally. Uzbekistan handled 12.5 million passengers, representing 16.9% growth from the previous year.
Outside Central Asia, Vietnam also recorded significant expansion. The country handled 80.9 million passengers in 2025, an increase of 14.8% compared with 2024.
IATA’s figures count scheduled passengers originating or terminating in each country. Domestic journeys are counted once, while international journeys are counted in both the country of origin and the destination country.
The WATS data also highlights changes in the aircraft fleet and how different aircraft types are being utilized. Newer, more fuel-efficient widebody aircraft have expanded their presence in global operations since 2019, while older aircraft types have seen reduced utilization.
Boeing 787 operations increased 40.8% between 2019 and 2025, with the aircraft operating 795,000 flights in 2025 compared with 564,000 in 2019. Airbus A350 operations more than doubled over the same period, rising 117.4% from 200,000 to 434,000 flights.
In contrast, Airbus A380 operations declined 24.4%, from 119,000 flights in 2019 to 90,000 in 2025.
Narrowbody aircraft continued to dominate global airline operations. Boeing 737 aircraft, including all variants, remained the most widely used aircraft family, operating 10.8 million flights in 2025. This was a 12% increase from 2024 and represented a 3.1% increase compared with 2019.
The Airbus A320 ranked second with 8.7 million flights in 2025, compared with 8.1 million in 2019, an increase of 7.6%. The Airbus A321 recorded 4.2 million flights, significantly higher than the 2.6 million flights recorded in 2019, representing growth of 61.6%.
Embraer’s ERJ 170/190 family operated 2.7 million flights in 2025, compared with 2.6 million in 2019, an increase of 2.8%. Meanwhile, Airbus A319 operations fell 34.3%, from 2.1 million flights in 2019 to 1.4 million in 2025.
The Airbus A220 recorded one of the most dramatic increases in utilization. The aircraft family operated 530,000 flights in 2025, compared with only 61,000 in 2019, representing a 770.4% increase as the newer-generation narrowbody continued to expand its presence in airline fleets.
The latest WATS data points to a global aviation market that continues to evolve across passenger demand, premium travel and fleet composition. While the United States remained the world’s largest passenger market and Asia Pacific dominated the busiest airport-pair rankings, rapidly growing markets in Central Asia and Southeast Asia also emerged as important contributors to global traffic growth.
At the same time, the rise in Boeing 787, Airbus A350 and A220 utilization, alongside declining Airbus A380 and A319 operations, reflects the industry’s gradual shift toward newer aircraft and changing airline fleet strategies.
