The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released 2024 full-year and December 2024 passenger market performance showing record high demand.

Total full-year traffic in 2024 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 10.4% compared to 2023. This was 3.8% above pre-pandemic (2019) levels. Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 8.7% in 2024. The overall load factor reached 83.5%, a record for full-year traffic.

International full-year traffic in 2024 increased 13.6% compared to 2023, and capacity rose 12.8%. 

Domestic full-year traffic for 2024 rose 5.7% compared to the prior year, while capacity expanded by 2.5%. 

December 2024 was a strong finish to the year with overall demand rising 8.6% year-on-year, and capacity grew by 5.6%. International demand rose by 10.6% and domestic demand by 5.5%. The December load factor reached 84%, a record for the month. 

International markets

Full-year international traffic surpassed the previous 2019 high by 0.5% in 2024, with growth in all regions. Capacity was 0.9% lower than 2019. The load factor improved by 0.5 percentage points, finishing on 83.2%, a record high. 

For the month of December, international demand grew by 10.6%, capacity increased 7.7% and the load factor improved by 2.2 percentage points (compared to December 2023) to 83.9%.

Domestic markets

Domestic 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% over 2023. There was stable growth across other major domestic markets. To note, Japan achieved 3.2% growth while capacity contracted by 0.3%. Only India had a fall in load factor (-0.6 %-pt), but still achieved a load factor of 86.4%—the highest among all domestic markets.