Over 1.98 million scheduled flights departed and arrived the UK during 2024, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. More than 357.6 million seats were available on flights departing and arriving at UK airports during the reporting period.
When compared to figures recorded from the year prior, the number of departing flights leaving the UK was up by 4.3%, while departing seat capacity was up by 5.9%. In 2024, departures from UK airports reached 91.2% of pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019, while departing seat capacity nearly matched 2019 figures at 99.8%.
In addition to departure figures, Cirium also identified that Amsterdam was the international destination with the highest demand during the year, based on seat capacity. The UK's busiest route, again based on seat capacity, was Heathrow to New York.
Globally during the 12-month period, airlines offered 5.85 billion seats on scheduled flights, exceeding the previous record of 5.72 billion seats set in 2019.
Despite this rise in global seat availability, the total number of scheduled flights offered in 2024, 36.4 million, remained 5% below 2019 levels. Cirium noted that this is due to airlines shifting toward operating larger planes with higher seating capacities.
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