Global air passenger traffic continued, in March, to recover strongly from the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported. Total air passenger traffic in that month jumped 52.4% in year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, and reached 88% of March 2019 (pre-Covid) levels. (IATA is the global representative body for the airline industry, with some 300 member airlines, collectively responsible for 83% of air traffic, worldwide.)

International air passenger traffic in March soared 68.9%, y-o-y, and reached 81.6% of March 2019 levels. Moreover, the international load factor in March of 81.3% actually exceeded the March 2019 load factor by 10.1 percentage points. This recovery was led by the Asia-Pacific region, but all markets reported good growth. Domestic air passenger traffic growth in March came off a higher base than international traffic, but was still substantial, at 34.1%, y-o-y. Domestic traffic reached 98.9% of March 2019’s numbers.

“The calendar year first quarter ended on a strong note for air travel demand,” highlighted IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “Domestic markets have been near their pre-pandemic levels for months. And for international travel two key waypoints were topped. First, demand increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous month’s growth, to reach 81.6% of pre-Covid levels. This was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s reopening took hold. And efficiency is improving as international load factors reached 81.3%. Even more importantly, ticket sales for both domestic and international travel give every indication that strong growth will continue into the peak northern hemisphere summer travel season.”

The Asia-Pacific region recorded a y-o-y jump in total air passenger demand of 158.9% in March. Africa recorded the next highest increase, of 66.1%, followed by the Middle East (40.4%), then Europe (37%), Latin America (19.9%) and North America (16.9%).

In terms of international air passenger traffic, the region which saw the greatest y-o-y increase in demand in March was again the Asia-Pacific, which rocketed 283.1%. Africa was again in second place, soaring 71.7%. But third place was taken by North America, with a jump of 51.6%, followed by the Middle East (43.1%), then Europe (38.5%) and Latin America (36.5%).

IATA tracked six particularly large domestic air travel markets – Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and the US. China saw the biggest y-o-y growth amongst these, in March, at 195.2%. Next came Japan, at 61.1%, followed by Australia (44.7%), India (20.3%), Brazil (8%) and the US (4.4%). IATA highlighted that Brazilian domestic air traffic was now only slightly below pre-Covid levels, while Indian domestic air travel was now 10% above pre-pandemic levels.