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Passenger seat capacity: Record-breaking year in global aviation
Data from aviation analytics firm Cirium finds that 2024 was a historic year for aviation.
It had the highest number of passenger seats available on flights in a single year.
During 2024, airlines offered 5.85 billion seats on scheduled flights worldwide, exceeding the previous record of 5.72 billion seats set in 2019 by 2%.
Global seat capacity also increased by 6% year-on-year in 2024, fuelled by surging demand for air travel.
Despite the rise in seat availability, the total number of scheduled flights in 2024, at 36.4 million, remained 5% below 2019 levels.
This highlights a shift toward operating larger planes with higher seating capacities.
Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium, said: “Looking back on 2024, it is clear that demand for air travel continued to rise, with airlines matching this demand.”
“The fact that the industry has managed to exceed 2019 highs just a few years post-pandemic shows the strength air travel has in today’s world.”
The analysis reveals American Airlines as the leading carrier in passenger seat offerings, followed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.
European low-cost airline Ryanair ranked fifth, as the only non-US operator in the top tier.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport was again the world’s busiest airport, with over 62.7 million departing seats, while Dubai International ranked second with 59.7 million.
Tokyo-Haneda, London Heathrow and Dallas-Fort Worth followed with over 55, 52.4 and 51.4 million departing seats respectively.
Asia is the dominant force for the busiest routes globally, with eight of the top ten routes in the region.
The Seoul-Gimpo to Jeju route ranked first, with over 15 million annual seats.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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