IATA data highlights India’s rise in global aviation rankings

New Delhi: India has secured its position as the world’s fifth-largest aviation market, handling 211 million passengers in 2024, according to the latest World Air Transport Statistics report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This marks an 11.1% year-on-year growth, placing India ahead of Japan but behind the US and China.

Globally, the aviation sector showed steady momentum, with overall passenger demand in June 2025 rising 2.6% compared to the same month last year. International travel demand grew by 3.2%, while domestic travel posted a 1.6% increase.

The Asia-Pacific region led growth with a 22.8% year-on-year surge, including 21 million premium passengers. The Jeju–Seoul Gimpo route in South Korea topped the world’s busiest air corridors in 2024, recording 15 million passengers.

Regionally, New York (JFK)–Los Angeles (LAX) was North America’s busiest route with 2.2 million passengers, while Barcelona–Palma de Mallorca (BCN–PMI) led Europe with 2 million.

India’s presence on the global high-traffic routes list was notable, with the Mumbai–Delhi sector ranking 7th worldwide, carrying 5.9 million passengers in 2024.

The world’s top 10 busiest airport pairs in 2024-25:

Rank	Airport Pair	Country	Passenger Traffic (in millions)
1	Jeju – Seoul Gimpo	South Korea	15m
2	Sapporo – Tokyo Haneda	Japan	9.2m
3	Fukuoka – Tokyo Haneda	Japan	9m
4	Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City	Vietnam	8m
5	Melbourne Tullamarine – Sydney	Australia	7.2m
6	Jeddah – Riyadh	Saudi Arabia	6.3m
7	Mumbai – Delhi	India	5.9m
8	Tokyo Haneda – Okinawa	Japan	5.6m
9	Shanghai Hongqiao – Shenzhen	China	5.3m
10	Beijing Capital – Shanghai Hongqiao	China	5.3m