IATA has reported record-breaking passenger demand in 2024. Full-year traffic, as measured by revenue passenger kilometres, increased 10.4% year on year, exceeding 2019 levels by 3.8%. RPK growth was highest in Asia-Pacific, at 16.9%, followed by Africa on 13.2% and the Middle East on 9.5%. Europe's RPKs grew 8.7%, Latin America's 7.8% and North America's 4.6%. Capacity as measured in available seat-kilometres was lifted 8.7%. Faster growth in demand than in capacity led to a record-high load factor of 83.5%. International traffic showed a particularly strong resurgence, rising 13.6% compared with 2023, against 5.7% for domestic. In December 2024, there was an 8.6% increase in demand. Last year "made it absolutely clear that people want to travel", states Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. "With 10.4% demand growth, travel reached record numbers domestically and internationally. Airlines met that strong demand with record efficiency." IATA expects growth in travel demand to continue this year, albeit at a more moderate pace of 8%.

KLM is planning to cut 250 jobs in non-operational roles as part of its efforts to structurally improve its financial and operational performance by €450 million ($469 million). The Works Council and the trade unions have been informed in advance, the airline says. "It is crucial for our future to structurally lower costs, which involves making painful choices. One of these measures is reducing the number of non-operational jobs, where we will try to avoid forced layoffs, although we cannot rule this out in advance," says KLM president and chief executive Marjan Rintel. He adds that the airline will continue to recruit operational positions to "maintain our operational capacity as much as possible". KLM says that it has also reached an agreement with its pilots’ union on temporary measures to increase pilot availability over the upcoming northern summer and winter scheduling seasons.

Thai Airways International has unveiled the business class seats on its Airbus A320s that will be rolled out on domestic and some regional international services. Currently available on selected flights, the new business class cabin features 12 exclusive seats arranged in a 2-2 configuration across the first three rows, it says. The seats are equipped with fold-away tray tables for dining and personal device use, complemented by beverage holders near the armrests. The new service is available on eight domestic routes from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Khon Kaen, Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Phuket, Hat Yai and Krabi. The service also extends to 22 destinations across Asia, including to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. "The service, launched this January, will be available in all 20 aircraft by the second quarter of this year," Thai chief commercial officer Korakot Chatasingha says. Thai integrated the A320s into its fleet in early 2024 after absorbing low-cost subsidiary Thai Smile into the mainline carrier. Fleet data shows that Thai’s A320s are aged between 9.2 and 12.6 years old, with 15 on operating leases, four owned encumbered and one owned unencumbered by the airline.