i thought, this was never possible? :S
Yes and no.
YES Scenario A: "## of [aid workers/etc] need transport".
NO Scenario B: "[specific passenger name] needs transport/any sight-seeing/'wants to go to wherever", you needed a dedicated cabin for each mission, one that could accommodate them.
Example, I had 2 class 6 and 2 class 5 econ cabins in a python, which gave me 96 "seats". I could take as many of Scenario A as you could fit. So, you could have 3-4, 5 missions and still take them all. I thought of this as coach in an airplane, as opposed to the other Scenario B, which was like assigned cabins in a train.
You could also haul economy passengers in First/Business class. Essentially, you could haul *any* passengers in a higher rated cabin, you were just not going to have many seats available. I had a class 6 First class cabin in an Asp to do sight-seeing missions, and you could take passengers that required economy, business, and first class.
I haven't done any passenger missions since the 2.2.03 dropped, so I will check that out today. I really hope it's NOT changed, or it will have killed that part of the game for me.