2025 marked a year of milestones in global aviation, with record-setting days and notable shifts in airline and airport performance. On 1 August, global seat capacity peaked at 19.8 million—making it the busiest day on record. In contrast, the quietest day was 28 January with 15.2 million seats.
Top Highlights from 2025:
Airlines by Seats Operated:
• American Airlines (279.6M)
• Delta (246.9M)
• Southwest (229.2M)
• United (225.5M)
• Ryanair (213.1M)
Airlines by Flights Operated:
• American (2.3M)
• Delta (1.8M)
• United (1.7M)
• Southwest (1.4M)
• Ryanair (1.1M)
By Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs):
• United (536.5B)
• American (487.9B)
• Delta (483.7B)
• Emirates (380.6B)
• Southwest (290.8B)
Fastest-Growing Airline:
• Colombia’s Clic Air, up 50% in capacity.
Most New Routes Added:
• Hong Kong (HKG) with 24 new routes.
Busiest Routes (100+ flights/day):
• Jeju – Seoul (Gimpo): 194
• Melbourne – Sydney: 134
• Jeddah – Riyadh: 130
• Hanoi – Ho Chi Minh City: 123
• Fukuoka – Tokyo (Haneda): 113
• Sapporo (Chitose) – Tokyo (Haneda): 109
• Mumbai – Delhi: 107
• São Paulo (Congonhas) – Rio de Janeiro (Santos Dumont): 103
Hong Kong Airport also led in seat growth thanks to full triple-runway operations.
So…:
Do air travel statistics matter to your situation – or which metrics should you be tracking?
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