Global air travel hits new heights as premium passengers surge

Global aviation recorded continued growth in 2025, with premium-class travel, passenger demand and airline operations showing strong momentum, according to the latest World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The annual report, which compiles data from 1,315 airlines worldwide, provides insights into passenger demand, airline capacity, fleet operations, top routes, employment and financial performance across the global aviation sector.

International premium-class travel — including business and first-class passengers — reached 109.7 million travellers in 2025, marking a 4.5% increase compared with the previous year. Premium passengers accounted for 5.5% of all international travellers.

Latin America recorded the strongest growth in premium travel, with passenger numbers rising 22.1% to 4 million. Europe remained the largest premium travel market with 39.7 million passengers, while North America and the Middle East recorded the highest share of premium travellers as a proportion of total passenger numbers, at 10.4% and 9.5% respectively.

Asia dominates world’s busiest air routes

Asia-Pacific continued to lead global aviation activity, occupying most positions among the world’s busiest airport connections.

The Jeju International Airport–Seoul Gimpo International Airport route in South Korea remained the world’s busiest airport pair, carrying 13.3 million passengers in 2025.

All of the top 10 busiest airport pairs were domestic routes, with Asia-Pacific dominating the ranking. The only route outside the region was Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah King Abdulaziz International Airport–Riyadh King Khalid International Airport, which ranked among the busiest connections globally.

Regional highlights included:

• Africa’s busiest airport pair was Cape Town–Johannesburg OR Tambo, carrying 3.4 million passengers.
• Latin America’s busiest route was Bogotá–Medellín, with 3.5 million passengers.
• Europe’s busiest airport pair remained Barcelona–Palma de Mallorca, with 2.1 million passengers.
• North America’s busiest domestic route was New York JFK–Los Angeles, with 2.2 million passengers.
• The busiest international route from North America was New York JFK–London Heathrow, carrying 2.1 million passengers.

US remains world’s largest aviation market

The United States retained its position as the world’s biggest passenger aviation market in 2025, recording 890.1 million arriving and departing passengers.

However, growth in the US market was the slowest among the world’s top 10 aviation markets, increasing by only 1.6% year-on-year.

China ranked second with 776.1 million passengers, representing growth of 4.8% compared with 2024.

Several emerging markets posted significant increases, with Kazakhstan recording the strongest growth among major markets, rising 40% to 18.1 million passengers. Uzbekistan also saw passenger numbers climb 16.9% to 12.5 million, while Vietnam handled 80.9 million passengers, up 14.8% year-on-year.