New data provided by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) shows that the UK’s aviation sector is currently experiencing its busiest period to date, with overall passenger numbers increasing by 2% in 2025.
302 million passengers moved through UK airports throughout the year – an increase on the previous year’s 295 million passenger journeys.
The data forms part of a long-term growth trend for the sector as a whole, with passenger numbers tripling since 1989 and growth looking set to continue, with a recent Annual Consumer Survey revealing that one-in-three (31%) are planning to fly more in 2026.
Flight delays also dropped in 2025, with 73% operating on-time – an increase of 6% when compared to 2024, despite still being behind pre-pandemic levels.
Selina Chadha, Group Director for Consumers and Markets at the UK Civil Aviation Authority said:It has never been more popular to fly, and 2025 was officially a record-breaking year.
While the sector grows from strength to strength, we continue working with aviation partners to drive even higher safety standards and protect passengers when they fly.
Additional findings from the annual data report also include the year’s most popular destinations, which consisted of Dublin, Alicante, Dubai, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca, as well as large passenger increases in journeys to Milan Linate (453,000 more passengers), Krakow (326,000) and Malta (301,000). Elsewhere, the airports with the largest growth in passenger numbers included Edinburgh (+8%), Liverpool (+11%) and Newcastle (+7%), with UK airports flying a total of 3 million tonnes of cargo – a increase of 3% over numbers in 2024.
