by Mia Taylor
Last updated: 5:25 PM ET, Mon August 4, 2025
So long economy seats, hello premium.
It seems a growing number of globetrotters are saying that very thing and increasingly opting for premium seating when they fly, according to the latest edition of the World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
In 2024, international premium class travel, which includes business and first class, grew by 11.8 percent. Growth of global economy travel by comparison was 11.5 percent last year. In addition, the total number of international premium-class travelers in 2024 was 116.9 million, a figure that represents 6 percent of total international passengers.
Looked at by region in terms of growth, Asia Pacific is leading all other regions of the world when it comes to passengers opting for premium seating. The year-on-year growth of premium seating bookings in 2024 of 22.8 percent for Asia Pacific airline passengers. That amounts to 21 million premium passengers in the region last year.
Growth in premium travel exceeded the growth economy class travel in Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North America.
Europe remained the largest market for international premium travel, with 39.3 million premium passengers, while premium travelers as a percentage of all travelers were highest in the Middle East at 14.7 percent.
The report from IATA is based on data from over 240 international airlines.
Busiest ‘airport pairs’ in 2024
The IATA report reveals the busiest airport routes in the world for 2024 and none of them are in the United States.
The Asia Pacific dominated this ranking with Jeju to Seoul (CJU-GMP) the most popular route globally, with13.2 million passengers flying between the two airports in 2024. Jeju International Airport is the second-largest airport in South Korea, coming in right behind Incheon International Airport in Incheon near Seoul.
In the top 10, only one airport pair—Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH) —was not in the Asia Pacific region.
Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda was the world’s second busiest route in 2024 with 9.2 million passengers, followed by Fukuoka to Tokyo Haneda with 9 million passengers.
Only one airport pair—Jeddah-Riyadh (JED-RUH), which came in at number six last year —was not in the Asia Pacific region. About 6.3 million passengers flew the route last year.
Bogota-Medellin (BOG-MDE) was the busiest route in Latin America with 3.8 million passengers while Cape Town-Johannesburg (CPT-JNB) was Africa’s busiest route, with 3.3 million passengers. New York John F. Kennedy International Airport-Los Angeles (JFK-LAX) was the busiest route in North America with 2.2 million passengers. Finally, Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca (BCN-PMI) was the busiest within Europe with 2 million passengers.
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