The images below are taken from the CAA’s quarterly Aviation Trends report. They show annual records of UK flight movements, passengers, punctuality and more, over the past 10 years. Further information and detail are held in the report.
For the full quarterly Aviation Trends report see: Aviation trends 2024 Q2
For access to the underlying data in the report see:
10 year trends
Annual Passengers, Air Transport Movements (ATM) and Cargo Tonnage
ATM's (millions)
(NB: 2024 values are year-to-date and will update throughout the year)
Air Transport Movements data for chart
Air Transport Movements data for chart
| Year | ATM (millions) |
| 2014 | 2.1 |
| 2015 | 2.2 |
| 2016 | 2.3 |
| 2017 | 2.3 |
| 2018 | 2.3 |
| 2019 | 2.3 |
| 2020 | 0.9 |
| 2021 | 0.8 |
| 2022 | 1.7 |
| 2023 | 2.0 |
| 2024 | 1.0 |
Terminal passengers (millions)
Annual terminal passengers (millions) data for chart
Annual terminal passengers (millions) data for chart
| Year | Terminal passengers (millions) |
| 2014 | 241 |
| 2015 | 255 |
| 2016 | 271 |
| 2017 | 288 |
| 2018 | 295 |
| 2019 | 300 |
| 2020 | 74 |
| 2021 | 65 |
| 2022 | 224 |
| 2023 | 276 |
| 2024 | 138 |
Cargo tonnage (millions)
Cargo Tonnage data for chart
Cargo Tonnage data for chart
| Year | Cargo tonnage (millions) |
| 2014 | 2.5 |
| 2015 | 2.5 |
| 2016 | 2.6 |
| 2017 | 2.8 |
| 2018 | 2.8 |
| 2019 | 2.7 |
| 2020 | 2.2 |
| 2021 | 2.5 |
| 2022 | 2.3 |
| 2023 | 2.4 |
| 2024 | 1.3 |
Average load factor (%)
Average load factor data for chart
Average load factor data for chart
| Year | Average load factor (%) |
| 2014 | 79 |
| 2015 | 80 |
| 2016 | 81 |
| 2017 | 82 |
| 2018 | 84 |
| 2019 | 84 |
| 2020 | 61 |
| 2021 | 57 |
| 2022 | 79 |
| 2023 | 82 |
| 2024 | 81 |
Average seats per flight
Average seat per flight data for chart
Average seat per flight data for chart
| Year | Average seat per flight |
| 2014 | 158 |
| 2015 | 163 |
| 2016 | 162 |
| 2017 | 165 |
| 2018 | 166 |
| 2019 | 170 |
| 2020 | 164 |
| 2021 | 165 |
| 2022 | 177 |
| 2023 | 181 |
| 2024 | 183 |
Flight punctuality trends
Percentage on time performance (percentage of flights operated within 15mins of scheduled time)
(NB: 2024 values are year-to-date and will update throughout the year)
Percentage on time performance data for chart
Percentage on time performance data for chart
| Year | Flights operated within 15mins of scheduled time (%) |
| 2014 | 79 |
| 2015 | 77 |
| 2016 | 75 |
| 2017 | 75 |
| 2018 | 72 |
| 2019 | 75 |
| 2020 | 83 |
| 2021 | 83 |
| 2022 | 62 |
| 2023 | 64 |
| 2024 | 70 |
Average delay minutes per flight
Average delay minutes per flight data for chart
Average delay minutes per flight data for chart
| Year | Average delay minutes per flight |
| 2014 | 12 |
| 2015 | 13 |
| 2016 | 15 |
| 2017 | 14 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2019 | 15 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 22 |
| 2023 | 21 |
| 2024 | 16 |
Percentage of flights cancelled (within 24 hours before departure)
(NB: Comprehensive cancellation data is reported from 2018.)
Percentage of flights cancelled (within 24 hours before departure) data for chart
Percentage of flights cancelled (within 24 hours before departure) data for chart
| Year | Flight cancelled within 24 hours of scheduled departure (%) |
| 2016 | 0.3 |
| 2017 | 0.6 |
| 2018 | 1.5 |
| 2019 | 0.9 |
| 2020 | 3.7 |
| 2021 | 1.2 |
| 2022 | 1.6 |
| 2023 | 1.8 |
| 2024 | 1.3 |
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