The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has published the latest edition of its World Air Transport Statistics (WATS), offering comprehensive data through 2025 on demand, supply, and operational performance across the global aviation industry. The report was released on 16 July 2026 from Geneva, according to a press release issued by IATA. Updated annually, WATS also covers the global airline fleet, top routes, employment, and financial performance. The dataset incorporates information from 1,315 airlines in the IATA Annual Statistics collection. More than 250 international airlines contributed specific data to WATS.
The report highlights a notable rebound in premium-class travel during 2025. International premium-class passengers, encompassing business and first class, reached 109.7 million, up 4.5% year-on-year. This figure represented 5.5% of all international travelers. Latin America recorded the sharpest jump in premium-class passengers, climbing 22.1% to 4.0 million. Europe remained the largest premium market with 39.7 million passengers, while North America (10.4%) and the Middle East (9.5%) held the highest shares of premium travel relative to total passengers.
Asia Pacific dominated the world’s busiest airport pairs, with Jeju International Airport–Seoul’s Gimpo International Airport (CJU-GMP) topping the ranking at 13.3 million passengers. Only one route in the top 10, Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport–Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport (JED-RUH), fell outside Asia Pacific. All 10 leading airport pairs were domestic connections. In Africa, Cape Town–Johannesburg (CPT-JNB) led with 3.4 million passengers, while Bogotá–Medellín (BOG-MDE) topped Latin America with 3.5 million. Barcelona–Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) remained Europe’s busiest pair with 2.1 million passengers.
The United States retained its position as the world’s largest passenger market, with 890.1 million passengers recorded in 2025, though growth was the slowest among the top 10 at 1.6% year-on-year. China followed with 776.1 million passengers, up 4.8%. Several Central Asian countries ranked among the fastest-growing markets, with Kazakhstan surging 40.0% to 18.1 million passengers and Uzbekistan up 16.9% to 12.5 million. Vietnam also posted strong growth, reaching 80.9 million passengers, up 14.8%. Stockholm Arlanda–Malmö (ARN-MMX) was Europe’s fastest-growing airport pair, with passenger numbers rising 85% to 271,031.
The WATS report also tracks shifts in fleet usage over the past six years. The Boeing 787 saw a 40.8% increase in flights compared with 2019, while the Airbus A350 recorded a 117.4% rise. The Airbus A380 operated 24.4% fewer flights in 2025 than in 2019. Narrowbody aircraft remained dominant, with Boeing 737 variants operating 10.8 million flights in 2025, up 12.0% from 2024. The Airbus A320 followed with 8.7 million flights and the Airbus A321 with 4.2 million.
