Cirium has announced that 2024 marked a historic milestone in global aviation, with the highest number of passenger seats available on flights in a single year. Olivia Palamountain reports

Global aviation reached a historic milestone in 2024, with airlines offering a record 5.85 billion passenger seats on scheduled flights worldwide, according to new data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

The figure represents a 2% increase over the previous record of 5.72 billion seats set in 2019, despite total scheduled flights remaining 5% below pre-pandemic levels at 36.4 million. This disparity reflects airlines' shift towards operating larger aircraft, with average flight capacity rising to 161 seats per flight in 2024, compared to 150 seats in 2019.

In the UK market, air travel showed significant recovery, with departures up 4.3% compared to 2023. The nation's airports handled nearly 2 million scheduled flights in 2024, with departures reaching 91.2% of pre-pandemic levels. Available seat capacity sat at 99.8% of 2019 figures, with over 357.6 million seats across arriving and departing flights.

Amsterdam emerged as the most popular international destination from UK airports based on seat capacity, followed by Dublin and Dubai. The analysis revealed that Heathrow dominated the biggest single routes, with its service to New York JFK ranking as the UK's busiest international route.

Globally, American Airlines led in passenger seat offerings, followed by Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. Ryanair ranked fifth as the only non-US carrier in the top tier.

Jeremy Bowen, CEO of Cirium, says: "Looking back on 2024, it is clear that demand for air travel continued to rise, with airlines matching this demand by providing a record-breaking 5.85 billion seats globally."

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport retained its position as the world's busiest airport with over 62.7 million departing seats, while Dubai International ranked second with 59.7 million. London Heathrow placed fourth with 52.4 million departing seats.

The busiest global route was Seoul-Gimpo to Jeju, offering over 15 million annual seats, with Asian routes dominating the top ten list, claiming eight of the positions.

September 6, 2024 marked the UK's busiest day for air travel in 2024, while Christmas Day saw the lowest number of flights.