IATA reports continued very strong recovery in global air passenger traffic
The global representative body for the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has reported that, worldwide, air passenger traffic continued to recover strongly in April. In year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, it jumped 45.8% and was at 90.5% of the level it had been before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The load factor in April was 81.3%, which was a mere 1.8 percentage points below its pre-Covid level.
Domestic air passenger travel leapt 42.6% in April (y-o-y) and not only reached, but surpassed, its pre-pandemic level, being 2.9% higher than the figure recorded in April 2019. International air passenger traffic zoomed 48% in April, and reached 83.6% of the level it had been before the pandemic hit.
“April continued the strong traffic trend we saw in the 2023 first quarter,” highlighted IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “The easing of inflation and rising consumer confidence in most [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries combined with declining jet fuel prices, suggests sustained strong air travel demand and moderating cost pressures.”
The best performing of IATA’s six regions was the Asia-Pacific, where demand soared 170.8% in April, y-o-y. Africa was second, jumping 47.1%. Then the Middle East, up 36.8%, followed by Europe (22.2%), Latin America (15.3%) and finally North America (13.9%).
Regarding international air passenger demand in April, the ranking was somewhat different. The Asia-Pacific remained in first place, the y-o-y figure rocketing 192.7%, and Africa was again second, shooting up 53.5%. The Middle East stayed in third place, with a jump of 38%. But fourth place was taken by North America (34.8%), while Latin America was again fifth (with an increase of 25.8%) and Europe came last, with 22.6%.
The six largest domestic air passenger markets tracked by IATA are Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and the US. Of these, by far the biggest y-o-y increase for April was reported from China, a stratospheric 536.2%. Japan was next, with 42.6%, followed by India at 18.3%. Brazil reported an increase of 5.7% and the US came in at 5.5%. Australia actually reported a decline of 4.5%.
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