Mabrian data reveals Asia’s surge in international air connectivity, with China and Japan driving strong seat capacity growth in 2024.
According to air connectivity data for 2024, Asia is gaining speed in rebuilding its international air connectivity network, growing strongly during 2024. As Mabrian data shows, China’s international air seats availability increases 75.8% compared to last year, reaching over 75,6 million seats capacity throughout 2024, while Japan adds up +35.1%, offering more than 60,8 million seats in outbound flights connecting with foreign markets.
Mabrian, part of The Data Appeal Company – Almawave Group, built this ranking based on seats availability data on flights scheduled in international, one-way, direct flights throughout 2024. The total air seats for these 10 countries amount to 43% of the global outbound air seats during the 12 months analysed.
Five European countries (United Kingdom, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy) are featured in this ranking, all of them growing steadily. Italy adds +13.7% air seats in international flights during 2024, and Spain, third on this ranking and key connectivity hub with Latin America, grows +11.5% interannually. Germany holds the fourth position and grows +8.2%, followed by France, increasing international air seats +5% since 2023.
Notably, Türkiye and United Arab Emirates deserve a particular mention. Türkiye, one of the key connectivity hubs between Europe and Asia, grows outbound air seats availability +8.9% year over year; whereas United Arab Emirates solidifies its position as connectivity hub in the Middle East, ranking on the sixth position, with 85,6 million seats available in international flights and an interannual increase of +10.2%.
“The performance of GCC countries’ airports is worth monitoring: 8% of international air seats availability are concentrated in outbound flights from, mainly, United Arab Emirates, as well as from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain, even considering not all these markets grow uniformly”, explains Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian.
As Mabrian data indicates, besides United Arab Emirates, Qatar (+13% YoY growth, and close to 31 million outbound international air seats) and Saudi Arabia (+11.8% YoY growth, and over 40,6 million outbound international air seats) are the markets showing the best performance within this region, along with Bahrain (+7.6% interannual growth), while Oman remains stable and Kuwait international air connectivity decreases, cutting down -1.6% of total outbound seats.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
