Qantas Airways (ASX:QAN) budget airline unit, Jetstar, reported an increase in passenger movement throughout 2024, with demand continuing to surge into the Christmas period, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) latest domestic airline competition report released Tuesday.

The report highlighted an over 11% rise in the number of passengers flown by Jetstar in December 2024 compared with the same month in 2023.

Despite capacity expansions, the growth in passenger numbers outpaced the increase in available seats, leading to fuller flights, the report said.

In November 2024, metropolitan routes were more than 90% full, the highest load factor recorded since at least January 2019.

The report also noted that, while there were challenges in matching capacity with demand due to aircraft delivery delays, airlines, including Jetstar, are being urged to find ways to increase seating capacity to accommodate the growing passenger base.

Additionally, Jetstar posted the lowest on-time performance, with just over 73% of flights arriving as scheduled.

Qantas had the highest cancellation rate in December 2024, at 2.7%. However, the number of passengers flown by Qantas increased by 3.2% over the same period, the report added.

Qantas' shares slipped almost 1% in recent Tuesday trade.