Annual civil aviation statistics, 2024
Released: 2026-01-16
Highlights
In 2024, Canadian air carriers continued to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, recording increases in passengers carried and operating revenue, albeit at slower rates of growth than the previous two years.
In 2024, Canadian air carriers transported 92.7 million passengers, up 3.2% from 2023 and representing 98.4% of the passengers flown in 2019. Operating revenue totalled $37.8 billion in 2024, a 4.8% increase from 2023, however profits declined as increases in operating expenses outpaced revenue growth.
Profits decline from 2023
In 2024, the net operating income of Canadian airlines stood at $2.1 billion, down from $3.2 billion the previous year. At $37.8 billion in 2024, total operating revenue generated by Level I, II and III Canadian air carriers rose 4.8% from 2023 and was 28.0% higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
In 2024, passenger revenue reached $32.4 billion, up 4.1% from 2023, accounting for 85.7% of total operating revenue. Cargo revenue increased 10.2% from 2023 to $2.5 billion, accounting for 6.7% of total operating revenue. This figure was within the 5.0% to 7.0% of revenue share observed prior to the pandemic.
Chart 1
Annual operating revenue by source, Canadian air carriers
Operating expenses continue to rise
In 2024, operating expenses reached $35.7 billion, up 8.6% from 2023. As such, the operating ratio—expenses divided by revenue—was 94.5 cents in 2024. In other words, 94.5 cents from each operating revenue dollar were used to cover operating expenses.
Aircraft operations accounted for more than two-fifths (42.9%) of operating expenses in 2024, followed by all other operating expenses (including general administration) (35.4%) and flight equipment maintenance (11.8%).
Chart 2
Turbo fuel consumption and expenses, Canadian air carriers
Canadian Level I to III air carriers flew 3.1 million hours in 2024, and consumed 8.5 billion litres of turbo fuel, up 6.7% from the level of fuel consumed in 2023. The $8.3 billion in fuel costs accounted for 23.2% of total operating expenses in 2024. Aviation fuel prices, as reported by the Industrial Product Price Index, declined 14.2% year over year.
In 2024, total employment in the airline industry (79,146) rose by close to 4,000 from 2023, while wages and salaries ($6.8 billion) represented nearly one-fifth (19.2%) of the industry's total operating expenses.
Total assets of Canadian Level I to III air carriers stood at $53.6 billion in 2024.
International traffic continues to rise, while domestic traffic stabilizes
Canadian air carriers transported a total of 92.7 million scheduled and charter passengers in 2024, 3.2% higher than in 2023 and nearly reaching the 94.1 million passengers flown in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Chart 3
Passengers carried, Canadian air carriers
The number of passengers on scheduled flights was 90.0 million in 2024 while 2.7 million passengers flew on chartered flights. Domestic passenger traffic (within Canada) was 44.4 million, little changed from the 2023 level (44.5 million). International traffic grew by 6.3% year over year to 48.2 million passengers in 2024, exceeding the 2019 level by 6.5%.
Finally, carriers recorded 242.5 billion passenger-kilometres flown on scheduled and charter operations during 2024 and each passenger travelled 2,617 kilometres on average.
Note to readers
This release covers Canadian Level I, II and III air carriers.
Level I air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, transported at least 2 million revenue passengers or at least 400 000 tonnes of cargo.
Level II air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, transported (a) at least 100,000, but fewer than 2 million, revenue passengers, or (b) at least 50 000 tonnes, but less than 400 000 tonnes, of cargo.
Level III air carriers include every Canadian air carrier that (a) is not a Level I or II air carrier, and (b) in the calendar year before the year in which information is provided, realized gross revenues of at least $2 million for the provision of air services for which the air carrier held a licence.
Net non-operating income and loss are from commercial ventures that are not part of air transportation services, from other revenue and expenses attributable to financing or other activities that are not an integral part of air transportation, and from special recurrent items of a non-periodic nature. Non-operating income can be, for example, capital gains from the sale of aircraft, interest income and foreign exchange adjustment, while non-operating loss can include capital losses and interest on bank loans and other debt.
The average passenger trip length is calculated by dividing the number of passenger-kilometres by the number of passengers. Trips across Canada and the world are included in this calculation.
Survey data are revised on an annual basis to reflect new information.
Because of rounding, components may not add up to the total.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: