Need Help?

Contact us

The global aviation statistics database - sourced directly from 250+ airlines

Need Help?

Contact us

World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) is the global aviation statistics database built entirely on direct airline reporting. More than 250 international airlines submit their operational and financial data directly to IATA each year, covering passenger volumes, cargo metrics, financial results, fleet data, and employee headcount, validated and delivered through an interactive dashboard.

Unlike products built from booking systems or third-party estimates, WATS reflects what airlines actually reported, not what analysts inferred. Standard subscriptions include 16 years of historical data, with records going back to 1945 available on request.

 

Explore the WATS dataset

 

See the traffic, fleet, financial, ranking, and safety datasets included in IATA World Air Transport Statistics.

Seeing the full industry picture through five key data domains

As an essential resource for aviation stakeholders and industry partners, WATS offers both micro- and macro-level views of market trends and industry shifts through five data domains:

Industry demand

WATS provides verified passenger and cargo traffic statistics that can be broken down by region, nationality, airline type, global route, and cabin. Users can track how the industry is performing through established metrics, including:

  • Revenue Passengers (PAX) and Revenue Passenger-Kilometers (RPK) by region, route area, and airline type.
  • Passenger Load Factor (PLF) is broken down by domestic, international, and total.
  • Cargo Tonne-Kilometers (CTK) and Available Cargo Tonne-Kilometers (ACTK) for freight data.
  • Freight Tonnes (FRT), Revenue Tonne-Kilometers (RTK), Cargo Load Factor (CLF), and Weight Load Factor (WLF) for a full picture of cargo performance.

Industry supply

Assess demand for specific aircraft types and understand supply across operating fleets and scheduled passenger capacity.

  • Compare aircraft utilization by model using Available Seat-Kilometers (ASK), Available Cargo Tonne-Kilometers (ACTK), and Available Tonne-Kilometers (ATK).
  • Analyze scheduled passenger capacity by airline type — leisure, low-cost, and traditional network carriers.
  • Map fleet composition and capacity distribution across carrier segments.
  • Track how the industry is deploying aircraft across routes and regions over time.

Rankings

Access airline, airport, and country rankings based on passenger and freight metrics.

  • Identify the top 200 airlines by total passengers carried and the top 100 by freight tonne-kilometers.
  • Locate the busiest airport pairs by passenger volume — globally and by region — drawn from thousands of airlines and aggregated by IATA for the broadest possible sample.

Financial & safety performance

WATS is the only source that provides this level of detail on how cost structures and safety performance differ across regions — covering yields, detailed airline costs, and revenue structures, as well as safety and security metrics.

  • Break down industry costs by region: labor, fuel, MRO, depreciation, user charges, station expenses, passenger services, ticketing, sales, and administration.
  • Benchmark yield, unit costs, and safety trends by carrier group.
  • Compare accident rates between IATA member and non-member airlines across multiple years.

Individual airline data

Use detailed airline traffic, fleet, employee, and financial data for further benchmarking, comparisons, and analysis.

  • Compare per-airline traffic: RPK, ASK, passengers, load factors, and freight.
  • Analyze per-airline financial results: operating revenue, operating expense, and operating profit.
  • Review per-airline headcount broken down by pilots, cabin attendants, maintenance staff, and other categories.
  • Track per-airline fleet: aircraft currently in service for company-level assessments and competitive benchmarking.

Aircraft statistics

Get key metrics on fleet data for the number of aircraft in service, the number of hours and kilometers flown, the length of the scheduled route network, and utilization expressed as average hours flown.

ANNUAL  Global

Great for individual consultants, WATS Annual gives you a full statistical overview of the aviation industry from the previous year.

  • 2024 Statistical Data

Perfect for organizations who require in-depth longitudinal analysis, WATS Global offers a comprehensive, 15-year overview of the aviation industry from 2010 to 2024.

  • 2024 Statistical Data
  • WATS 2010-2024
  • Compare years
  • Analyse industry trends

Talk to our team

 

The data domains above give a sense of what's available. We can walk you through which sections are relevant to your use case and answer any questions you may have about coverage, methodology, or the product.

 

About WATS

World Air Transport Statistics (WATS) is IATA’s annual aviation dataset based on operational and financial data reported directly by airlines.

It provides a comprehensive view of global demand, capacity, financial performance, safety, rankings, and airline-level data.

Most aviation data sources rely on schedules or modeled estimates.

WATS is built entirely from data reported directly by more than 250 airlines, reflecting actual 
operations and financial performance.

Annual updates of the previous year’s data happen every June.

More than 250 international airlines report operational and financial data directly to IATA each year.

This ensures broad global coverage across passenger and cargo markets.

IATA has been collecting aviation statistics since 1945.

WATS datasets can include decades of historical data, supporting long-term trend analysis.

WATS covers five main data areas:

  • Passenger and cargo demand (RPK, ASK, load factors)
  • Capacity and fleet data
  • Airline financial and safety performance
  • Industry rankings
  • Individual airline data

Yes. WATS provides both global passenger and cargo traffic data based on airline-reported figures. This includes metrics such as RPK, CTK, and load factors across regions and markets. For a complete overview, we recommend downloading the WATS data overview.

Yes. WATS includes fleet data such as number of aircraft in service, aircraft types, and utilization metrics like hours flown and distance flown.

Yes. WATS includes airline-reported financial data such as revenues, operating costs, and cost structures.

This enables detailed financial benchmarking across airlines.

WATS is used across the aviation ecosystem:

  • Airlines for benchmarking performance
  • OEMs and lessors for fleet and capacity planning
  • Analysts and consultants for research
  • Financial institutions for investment analysis
  • Universities for academic research

Airlines use WATS to compare performance against competitors using consistent metrics such as load factors, costs, revenue per employee, and fleet utilization.

This enables direct comparison with named carriers.

Yes. WATS includes detailed cargo data such as cargo tonne-kilometers, load factors, and capacity splits between belly cargo and freighters.

This supports analysis of global freight markets.

WATS is an annual dataset covering demand, supply, financials, safety, and rankings.

Monthly Air Traffic Statistics focuses specifically on traffic data and is updated more frequently.