Global total air passenger traffic grew strongly in April, in year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported. (IATA is the global representative body for the airline industry.) Total demand increased 8%, with international demand up 10.8% and domestic demand rising by 3.3%.

Total air passenger capacity increased (also y-o-y) by 6.5%, with international capacity rising 8.5% and domestic capacity up by 3.1%. The total load factor in April was 83.6%, which is a 1.1 percentage point (ppt) increase, y-o-y. The international load factor was 84.1% (up 1.7 ppt), while the domestic load factor was 82.7% (an increase of 0.1 ppt).

“April was a positive month for travel,” affirmed IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “Growth strengthened, especially for international demand which saw record load factors for the month. The return of the transatlantic market to growth is particularly encouraging. But there are some signs of fragility of consumer and business confidence with continued weakness in the US domestic market and a sharp fall in North American premium class travel.”

The region which saw the strongest growth in total passenger traffic was Africa, at 14.2%. It was followed by the Middle East (11.3%), Latin America (10.9%), the Asia-Pacific (10.6%), Europe (8.3%) and North America (1.6%).

Regarding international travel demand, the order was different. The Asia-Pacific saw the strongest growth, at 14.4%, with Latin America ranking second, at 13.9%. Then came Africa (13.6%), the Middle East (11.2%), Europe (9.4%) and North America (5.4%).

IATA regularly tracks domestic air passenger demand in six countries – Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and the US. Between them, they accounted for some 79.1% of total global domestic air travel and about 30.2% of total global air passenger demand. In April, it was Brazil that recorded the strongest y-o-y growth in demand, at 13.5%. It was followed by India, at 10.1%, Japan (7.3%), China (7%), and Australia (2.4%), while the US saw a contraction of -0.5%.

“The development of India’s air connectivity in recent years has been nothing short of phenomenal,” highlighted Walsh.