The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is the global representative body for the airline industry, reports that total global air passenger demand increased by 3.6%, year-on-year in February. International demand was up by 5.1% while domestic demand rose by 0.9%. The load factor for the entire sector in September was 83.4% (down -0.1 percentage points year-on-year), while the international load factor was 83.6% (also down -0.1 percentage points, year-on-year) and that for domestic flights came to 83% (again, down -0.1 percentage points). Total passenger capacity increased by 3.7%, year-on-year, with international capacity rising by 5.2% and domestic capacity by 1.1%.

“Solid international demand drove 90% of September’s 3.6% overall growth,” pointed out IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “Importantly, the capacity expansion slightly nudged ahead of demand growth at 3.7%. Load factors, nonetheless, remained very strong at 83.4%. With November flight schedules indicating a 3% expansion on the previous year, airlines are gearing up for continued growth into the year-end holiday season. This is despite the severe constraints of unresolved supply chain issues.”

Of IATA’s six regions, the one that saw the strongest total growth in September, year-on-year, was the Middle East, at 6.2%, followed closely by Africa, at 6.1%. Then came Latin America and the Caribbean (5.4%) and, again just behind, the Asia-Pacific (5.3%), followed by Europe (2.9%). North America recorded a slight decline of -0.1%.

In terms of international demand only, the region that saw the strongest year-on-year growth was the Asia-Pacific, with a rate of 7.4%. IATA noted that this was largely driven by intra-Asia travel, particularly between China and Japan. The Middle East came next, at 6.3%, with African and Latin America and the Caribbean in joint third place, at 5.3% each. Then came Europe (4%) and North America (2.5%).

Regarding domestic air passenger demand, the six biggest markets, regularly tracked by IATA, were Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and the US. Of these, Brazil recorded by far the strongest year-on-year growth in September, at 12.1%. Next came China (5%) and then Japan (3.3%) and Australia (1.3%). India recorded a year-on-year decline of -0.7% and the US a fall of -0.7%.