How much flying is there, and how fast is it growing?

Every chart on this question

• AU Australia: domestic capacity and demand

  Over four decades Australian domestic traffic has grown faster than airline capacity, so planes fly steadily fuller.

• AU Australia: international capacity and utilisation

  International seat capacity into Australia has roughly quadrupled since the early nineties, and airlines now fill far more of those seats.

• AU Australia: Australian vs foreign carrier share (international)

  Australian airlines' share of the country's international passengers held near two-fifths until the late nineties, fell to about a third by the early two-thousands and has changed little since, apart from a pandemic dip.

• AU Australia: top international carrier market shares

  Qantas's share of Australia's international traffic has fallen by more than half since the mid-eighties. Over the same years Jetstar and Emirates rose from nothing to sizeable shares.

• AU Australia: domestic vs international passenger mix

  Both domestic and international travel in Australia have grown strongly since the mid-eighties. International has grown faster, so its share of all passengers has risen.

• AU Quarterly passenger distribution by era

  The post-COVID era shows the widest seasonal swing and is the only one whose quietest quarter is the first. The extra width comes from its first year alone; without it the swing is half as wide and no longer the widest.

• BR Brazil: capacity vs demand (passenger-km, seat-km, load factor)

  Brazilian air traffic has grown faster than seat capacity since the turn of the century, and planes are now at their fullest on record.

• BR Azul went from launch in 2008 to 30% of passengers flown by Brazilian airlines by 2024

  Passengers flown by Brazilian airlines are now split among three big carriers, with Azul rising from its launch to rival GOL.

• BR Brazil: domestic vs international passenger mix

  Brazil's air market is dominated by domestic flying, which outnumbers international passengers by more than three to one.

• BR Brazil: domestic vs international share of passenger-km

  Measured in distance flown, international trips still account for the majority of Brazilian air travel, though domestic has gained ground.

• BR Airlines flying before GOL's 2001 launch carried 41% of Brazilian airlines' passengers by 2025

  The share of Brazilian airlines' passengers carried by airlines that flew before GOL's launch fell to about a third by the late twenty-tens. Outside the pandemic dip it has risen since, to about two-fifths.

• BR Brazil: seasonal pattern by era

  Brazil's seasonal peaks and troughs have widened sharply over three decades, with the second half of the year pulling well ahead of a quieter first half.

• CA Canada: seasonal pattern by era

  Canada's summer peak barely moves across eras. The post-COVID era shows the weakest winter and strongest year-end, but the wider swing comes from its first year alone; without it the swing is the narrowest of any era.

• CA Canada: domestic / transborder / international passenger mix

  Domestic flights still carry the largest share of passengers through Canadian airports, but a shrinking one. Other international routes have gained at its expense, while the United States share is about where it began.

• CN China: airline group market share (annual)

  China's three state-owned carrier groups still carry most passengers. Their combined share fell through the twenty-tens and into the pandemic, and has edged back up since.

• CN China: flight on-time regularity

  Chinese flights run more on time than a decade ago. The peak came in the pandemic years, when traffic had collapsed, and the chart cannot separate lighter traffic from better operations.

• CN China: passenger load factor by route type

  Chinese planes flew consistently full until COVID, when load factors fell sharply, international routes most of all. By the latest year both domestic and international were within half a point of their pre-COVID levels.

• US Capacity utilisation: available seat-miles vs load factor

  Planes are far fuller than in the mid-nineties. Seat capacity kept growing while the share of seats sold climbed steeply, most of it before the twenty-tens.

• US Share of available seat-miles: major carriers

  Over three decades United, Delta and American have clustered near a fifth of capacity each, with Southwest's long climb behind them.

• US Top 15 carriers by available seat-miles (2024)

  United edges Delta and American at the top of the latest capacity ranking, and the three stand well clear of every other carrier.

• IN India: domestic passenger share by carrier

  IndiGo now carries nearly two-thirds of India's domestic passengers. Over the same decade the shares of Jet Airways and Go First fell to zero.

• IN India: international passengers by carrier nationality

  Foreign airlines still carry just over half of India's international passengers, though Indian carriers stepped up their share around COVID.

• IN India: top international markets by country (2025)

  The Gulf dominates India's international travel: the UAE alone accounts for nearly a third, more than the next four countries combined.

• US US vs foreign carrier share

  US and foreign airlines each carry about half of US international traffic in the latest year. Foreign airlines led clearly in the late nineties and again just before the pandemic, and US airlines led by more during it.

• US US vs foreign carrier share by region (2024)

  US carriers dominate only in Latin America; foreign airlines carry most passengers to Canada, Europe and Asia.

• US International passengers by market region

  Latin America and the Caribbean has become the largest US international market, roughly quadrupling over three decades.

• US US international air passengers

  US international air travel has more than tripled since the early nineties, with the latest full year setting a new record.

• US Top 20 international carriers (2024)

  American, United and Delta top the international rankings, with JetBlue a distant fourth ahead of the biggest foreign flags.

• US Top 6 destination trends

  Canada was the top US international destination in every year before the pandemic. Mexico overtook it in the first pandemic year and has stayed ahead since.

• US Top 15 international destinations (2024)

  Mexico, Canada and the UK are the top three US international destinations, together taking over a third of international passengers leaving the US.

• JP Japan: domestic vs international passengers (indexed, 2012 Q1 = 100)

  Japanese airlines' international traffic has outgrown their domestic traffic over the past decade or so. After deep COVID troughs, domestic is back at its pre-COVID level while international is still short of it.

• JP Japan: load factor trend

  Japanese planes fly fuller than ever, with seat occupancy ending the sample at its record high.

• US Capacity vs demand: available seat-miles, revenue passenger-miles and load factor

  Seat supply and passenger traffic across three and a half decades, at two measurement scopes: demand grew faster than capacity, so planes fly far fuller now.

• US State seasonal heterogeneity: Q3-Q1 amplitude

  Northern states like Maine and Alaska swing hardest toward summer, while Florida and Arizona are busier in winter than in summer.

• SG Singapore air traffic averaged 189 passengers per aircraft movement in 2025 Q4, up from 90 in 1980 Q1

  Each aircraft movement in Singapore carries roughly twice as many passengers as at the start of the eighties. The chart shows that ratio only, not whether aircraft grew larger, flew fuller or both.

• SG Same-aircraft transit passengers fell from 14% of Singapore air traffic in 1980 to under 1% in 2025

  Transit passengers who stay on the same aircraft through Singapore have nearly vanished, from about one in seven at the start of the eighties to under one percent; flight-changers are not counted here.

• UK UK: domestic vs international (indexed, 2016 Q1 = 100)

  Comparing like quarters a decade apart, UK international air travel is up by roughly a quarter while domestic flying is down.