India has now become the fifth biggest aviation market in the world, flying 241 million passengers in 2024. This major growth puts India ahead of Japan, which flew 205 million passengers, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
In 2023, India had 211 million passengers. That means there was an 11.1% increase in one year.
Global Rankings in Air Travel (2024):
- 1st: United States – 876 million passengers
- 2nd: China – 741 million passengers
- 3rd: United Kingdom – 261 million passengers
- 4th: Spain – 241 million passengers
- 5th: India – 241 million passengers (just behind Spain by a small margin)
These numbers include both domestic and international flights.
Mumbai-Delhi Route Among World’s Busiest
India’s Mumbai to Delhi flight route carried 5.9 million passengers, making it the 7th busiest flight route in the world.
The world’s busiest air route was between Jeju and Seoul in South Korea, with 13.2 million passengers.
IATA said that most of the busiest air routes are in Asia Pacific, except one — Jeddah to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia.
Premium Travel on the Rise
Globally, more people are flying in business and first class (premium travel):
- Premium travel grew by 11.8%
- Economy travel grew by 11.5%
- 116.9 million people flew in premium class, making up 6% of all international passengers
In Asia Pacific, premium travel rose by 22.8%, but economy travel grew even faster at 28.6%.
In Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East, premium travel grew faster than economy.
- Europe had the most premium flyers (39.3 million)
- Middle East had the highest percentage of premium flyers (14.7%)
Most Used Aircraft in 2024
The most commonly used airplanes in the world were:
- Boeing B737 – 10 million flights, 2.4 trillion seat kilometers
- Airbus A320 – 7.9 million flights, 1.7 trillion seat kilometers
- Airbus A321 – 3.4 million flights, 1.1 trillion seat kilometers
ASK (Available Seat Kilometers) is a measure of how many seats are available and how far they fly – a key way airlines track capacity.
