Last year, growth in first-class and business-class combined (collectively known as premium-class) international air travel exceeded the growth in international economy-class air travel, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported. While, year-on-year, international premium-class traffic increased by 11.8% last year, economy-class air travel rose by 11.5%. However, in 2024, premium-class international air travellers, who numbered 116.9-million, accounted for only 6% of total international air travellers.

These were some of the statistics contained in the latest edition of IATA’s World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) report. This is an annual report embracing data from airlines on demand, supply, and performance, both for passengers and cargo, as well as on the busiest airport pair routes, and an overview of the global airliner fleet. Further, it covers key financial data, such as revenues and operating costs, as well as numbers of airline employees, and aircraft utilisation. (IATA is the global representative body for the airline industry, with some 350 member airlines, which account for more than 80% of global air traffic. The WATS is compiled using data from more than 240 international airlines.)

In terms of total passenger demand, the region that saw the strongest growth was the Asia-Pacific, at 28.3%. Then came Latin America and the Caribbean, at 13.5%, Africa (10.6%), the Middle East (9.1%), North America (5.9%) and Europe (5.3%). Regarding premium-class demand, the lead was again taken by the Asia-Pacific (22.8%), followed by, again, Latin America and the Caribbean (21.8%), and then the Middle East (11%), North America (9.4%), Europe (8.1%) and Africa (5.6%). As for economy-class demand, the Asia-Pacific remained in first place, at 28.6%, with Latin America and the Caribbean staying in second, at 13.1%; but Africa ranked third (10.9%), followed by the Middle East (8.8%), North America (5.6%), and Europe (5.1%).

In terms of total numbers of passengers last year, Europe ranked first, with 917.4-million (39.3-million premium- and 878-million economy-class). Then came the Asia-Pacific, with 521.9-million (21-million premium- and 500.8-million economy-class); the Middle East, 220.1-million (32.4-million premium and 187.7-million economy-class); North America, 171.7-million (16.8-million premium- and 154.9-million economy-class); Latin America and the Caribbean, 67.5-million (3.3-million premium- and 64.2-million economy-class) and Africa, with 61-million passengers (3.9-million premium- and 57.1-million economy-class).

The biggest single-country air passenger markets (counting both domestic and international travel, and both arrivals and departures) in 2024 were, in first place, the US, with China second. Third came the UK and fourth, Spain. They were followed by India and Japan.