IATA Industry Statistics Fact Sheet
To recap World Bank data, in 2021, number of world air passengers carried were 2,280 million, having recovered from 1771.9 million in 2020
Table below captures IATA's Industry Statistics fact Sheet of December 2025
O&D (Origin & Destination) passengers count the total number of unique trips from a start point to an end point while segment passengers count each individual flight leg in that journey. IATA statistics track both: "O-D passengers" reflects market size, while "Segment passengers" reflects actual flight movements and capacity utilization
Segment passengers were 3,452 million in 2022, 4,414 million in 2023 and 4,774 million in 2024. IATA expects 4,982 million passengers in 2025 and 5,202 million in 2026
The O-D passengers were 2,960 million in 2022, 3,793 million in 2023, 4,097 million in 2024. IATA expects 4,269 million O-D passengers in 2025 and 4,458 million in 2026
