US still world's biggest air transport market, but growth slows: data

PARIS: The United States remained the world’s largest air passenger market in 2025, but it recorded the slowest growth among the world’s top 10 markets, new industry data showed on Thursday.

A total 890.1 million passengers took off or landed in the US last year, a rise of just 1.6 percent over 2024, industry body IATA calculated in a statement.

By contrast, China – the second-biggest market – notched up growth of 4.8 percent to 776.1 million passengers, the data showed.

According to a range of different forecasts, China is projected to become the world’s biggest air passenger market in the 2030s.

Aircraft maker Airbus, for example, estimates that the market for domestic flights in China will dwarf the US market by around one third by 2045.

The UK was the world’s third-biggest air passenger market in 2025 with 269.7 million domestic take-offs and landings, IATA calculated.

It was followed by Spain with 252.7 million passengers and Japan with 223.5 million.

The four busiest domestic air routes last year were Jeju-Seoul with 13.3 million passengers; Sapporo-Tokyo with 9.6 million; Fukuoka-Tokyo with 9.5 million; and Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh with 8.9 million, the industry association said. 

By comparison, the busiest route in the US was New York-Los Angeles with just 2.2 million passengers. And in Europe, the route Barcelona-Palma de Majorca carried 2.1 million.

IATA compiles its data from 1,315 airlines.

The most used aircraft in the world last year was the Boeing 737 with 10.8 million flights, followed by Airbus A320 with 8.7 million and A321 with 4.2 million, IATA said.