Premium-class international air travel rose 11.8% in 2024, slightly ahead of the 11.5% growth in global economy-class travel, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report.
A total of 116.9 million passengers flew in business or first class last year, accounting for 6% of all international travellers.
Asia Pacific posted the highest year-on-year growth in premium traffic at 22.8%, reaching 21 million passengers. However, economy-class traffic in the region grew faster, up 28.6% to 500.8 million passengers.
Premium travel outpaced economy-class growth in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America. Europe remained the largest premium travel market with 39.3 million passengers. The Middle East recorded the highest share of premium travellers, with 14.7% of all international passengers flying in premium cabins.
Asia Pacific dominated the world’s busiest airport pairs. The Jeju-Seoul route (CJU-GMP) was the busiest globally in 2024, handling 13.2 million passengers. Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) was the only route outside Asia Pacific in the global top 10.
Bogota-Medellin (BOG-MDE) led Latin America with 3.8 million passengers. Cape Town-Johannesburg (JNB-CPT) was the busiest in Africa with 3.3 million. New York–Los Angeles (JFK-LAX) was North America’s busiest with 2.2 million, while Barcelona–Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) led Europe with 2 million.
Among aircraft types, Boeing’s 737 series operated the most flights globally at 10 million, accounting for 2.4 trillion Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs). Airbus’s A320 followed with 7.9 million flights and 1.7 trillion ASKs, while the A321 recorded 3.4 million flights and 1.1 trillion ASKs.
