IATA’s 2024 full-year and December 2024 passenger market performance report have shown record high demand with total full-year traffic up 10.4 per cent over 2023 and 3.8 per cent above 2019 levels.
Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 8.7 per cent in 2024, while the overall load factor reached 83.5 per cent, a record high.
International full-year traffic in 2024 rose 13.6 per cent compared to 2023, and capacity rose 12.8 per cent. There was growth in all regions.
Asia-Pacific airlines posted a 26 per cent rise in full year international 2024 traffic compared to 2023, maintaining the strongest year-over-year rate among the regions. Capacity rose 24.7 per cent and the load factor climbed 0.8 percentage points to 83.8 per cent. Despite this strong growth, opportunities for further growth remain high, as international revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs remain 8.7 per cent below 2019 levels. December 2024 traffic rose 17.1 per cent compared to December 2023.
In terms of domestic passenger markets, full-year demand reached record highs for passenger numbers and load factors. The standout performer for 2024 Domestic RPK was once again China, which increased 12.3 per cent over 2023. There was stable growth across other major domestic markets. To note, Japan achieved 3.2 per cent growth while capacity contracted by 0.3 per cent. Only India had a fall in load factor (-0.6 percentage points), but still achieved a load factor of 86.4 per cent – the highest among all domestic markets.
December 2024 put in a strong finish to the year, with overall demand rising 8.6 per cent year-on-year, and capacity grew by 5.6 per cent. Load factor was 84 per cent, a record for the month.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said in a statement: “2024 made it absolutely clear that people want to travel.”
He said that “airlines met that strong demand with record efficiency”.
“Aviation growth reverberates across societies and economies at all levels through jobs, market development, trade, innovation, exploration, and much more,” he added.
He has predicted continued growth for travel demand in 2025, at a moderated pace of eight per cent “that is more aligned with historical averages”.
“The desire to partake in the freedom that flying makes possible brings some challenges into sharp focus. First, the tragic accident in Washington reminds us that safety needs our continuous efforts. Our thoughts are with all those affected. We will never cease our work to make aviation ever safer.
“Second is the airlines’ firm commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. While airlines invested record amounts in purchases of SAF in 2024, less than 0.5 per cent of fuel needs were meet with SAF. SAF is in short supply and costs must come down. Governments could fortify their national energy security and unblock this problem by prioritising renewable fuel production from which SAF is derived.
“In addition to securing energy supplies and increasing the SAF supply, diverting a fraction of the subsidies given for fossil fuel extraction to support renewable energy capacity would also boost prosperity through economic expansion and job creation,” said Walsh.
