Premium air travel grows as Asia leads world's busiest routes
The report showed that
international business and first-class travel reached 109.7 million passengers
in 2025, marking a 4.5 percent increase from the previous year. Premium
travelers accounted for 5.5 percent of all international passengers. Latin
America recorded the fastest growth in premium travel at 22.1 percent, while
Europe remained the largest premium market with 39.7 million passengers.
Asia Pacific continued to
dominate global air traffic, with the Jeju–Seoul Gimpo route in South Korea
remaining the world's busiest airport pair, carrying 13.3 million passengers
during the year. All of the world's top 10 busiest airport pairs were domestic
routes, except the Jeddah–Riyadh connection in Saudi Arabia.
The United States
remained the world's largest passenger market with 890.1 million passengers,
followed by China with 776.1 million. Among the fastest-growing markets were
Kazakhstan, where passenger traffic surged 40 percent, and Vietnam, which
posted nearly 15 percent growth.
The report also highlighted the aviation industry's continued shift toward newer aircraft. Boeing 737s remained the world's most widely used aircraft family, operating 10.8 million flights in 2025, followed by the Airbus A320 and A321. Meanwhile, the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 recorded significant growth in operations compared with pre-pandemic levels, while Airbus A380 usage continued to decline.
