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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Which country flies the most? Where are people going? And in which | |
planes? 2024 aviation stats revealed | |
By Maureen O'Hare, CNN | |
Updated: | |
6:00 AM EDT, Sat August 9, 2025 | |
Source: CNN | |
In our roundup of travel news this week: the secret tunnel city | |
underneath Rome, China’s “8D city” where trains pass through | |
walls, plus a new report reveals the world’s busiest flight routes, | |
biggest aviation markets and most popular planes. | |
The world’s plane-loving nations | |
Isn’t data just delicious? | |
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its | |
2024 report, and it’s filled with fascinating nuggets. | |
Here are a few to wow your avgeek friends. | |
The United States is the world’s biggest aviation market, with 876 | |
million passengers per year in 2024, mostly flying domestic. That’s | |
four times more than India, which is the world’s most populous nation | |
and the fifth biggest aviation market. | |
China is hot on the States’ heels at No. 2, however, with 741 million | |
passengers in 2024 and a whopping 18.7% growth year-on-year, compared | |
to America’s modest 5.2%. | |
The United Kingdom is but a 94,000-square-mile island nation, but | |
it’s the world’s No.3 aviation market, with 261 million passengers | |
scooting above land and sea in 2024. | |
A lot of those Brits will have been heading to vacation hot spot Spain, | |
which is the No. 4 aviation market, with 241 million passengers last | |
year. | |
Busiest flight routes and most popular planes | |
Let’s continue with more tidbits from the IATA report. | |
Nine out of 10 of the world’s busiest flight routes are in the | |
Asia-Pacific region. However, the world’s No.1 is a South Korean | |
domestic flight: the 1 hour and 15 minute trip between the island | |
resort city of Jeju (CJU) and the capital, Seoul (GMP). More than 13 | |
million passengers flew the route in 2024. | |
The busiest route in North America is an airport pairing as classic as | |
ketchup and hot dog. It’s JFK to LAX (or New York to Los Angeles, as | |
if you didn’t know), and 2.2 million passengers made the voyage last | |
year. | |
The most popular European route is the hour-long flight between Spanish | |
vacation hot spots Barcelona (BCN) and Palma de Mallorca (PMI), with 2 | |
million passengers in 2024. Want a less busy flight? Take a look at our | |
guide to the parts of Spain that . | |
The busiest route in Latin America (with 3.8 million passengers) is the | |
one-hour flight between Bogotá (BOG), the Colombian capital, and | |
Medellín (MDE), Colombia’s second-largest city. | |
Africa’s most popular route, with 3.3 million passengers, is the | |
two-hour domestic South African flight between Cape Town (CPT) and | |
Johannesburg (JNB). | |
Finally, while the has had a calamitous history, the Boeing 737 | |
(including all variants), remains the world’s most-used aircraft, | |
making 10 million flights in 2024. | |
The No. 2 and No. 3 planes are also narrowbody aircraft, made by | |
Boeing’s European rival Airbus. The A320 flew 7.9 million flights and | |
the A321 flew 3.4 million. | |
Destination inspiration | |
Enough about the journeys, let’s talk destinations. Here are three to | |
consider for your next big trip. | |
, in southeastern Turkey, was one of several towns and cities to be | |
intentionally flooded when the Birecik Dam was built in 2000. But | |
residents still live in the half-submerged town — while dark roses | |
grow in the mineral-rich lands. | |
, in southern Africa, is twice the size of Texas and boasts spectacular | |
natural wonders that few tourists have seen. After decades largely cut | |
off from the world, the country is opening up, infrastructure is | |
improving, and discovery awaits. | |
Chongqing, in a mountainous area of southwestern China, is attracting | |
younger travelers thanks to its mindbending, Instagram-friendly terrain | |
that’s so multilayered some are calling it the country’s “8D | |
city.” To see what we mean, passing right through a residential | |
building. | |
Secret tunnel city | |
A network of ancient caves and tunnels lies some 75 feet under the city | |
of Rome, hidden from the world for more than a century. Now this | |
subterranean labyrinth is being uncovered once more. Here’s . | |
One of a cave explorer’s most essential items is, of course, a | |
headlamp. Our partners at CNN Underscored a product reviews and | |
recommendations guide owned by CNN, have this guide to the for 2025. | |
In case you missed it | |
France is being forced to confront its toxic kitchen culture. | |
are calling for change. | |
Italy has given the go-ahead for a landmark Sicily bridge project. | |
It could be the world’s. | |
A flying phobia affects more than 25 million Americans. | |
Here’s how to . | |
It’s not too late for a summer getaway. | |
Check out America’s best . | |
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