Global air passenger demand up 21.5% in Feb

Iata data for global passenger demand for February shows that total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), was up 21.5% compared with February last year.

Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), was up 18.7% year-on-year. The February load factor was 80.6% (a 1.9 percentage point increase compared with February 2023). 

International demand rose 26.3% compared with February 2023; capacity was up 25.5% year-on-year and the load factor improved to 79.3% (an increase of 0.5 percentage points on February 2023). 

Domestic demand rose 15%; capacity was up 9.4% year-on-year and the load factor was 82.6% (up 4 percentage points).

African airlines saw a 20.7% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity was up 22.1% year-on-year, and the load factor fell to 74% (a drop of 0.8 percentage points).

Note that February 2024 was a leap year with one extra day compared with February 2023. This slightly exaggerates growth in both demand and capacity to the…