Geneva – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the ongoing recovery in passenger demand continued in October.
Total traffic in October 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 31.2% compared to October 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 98.2% of pre-COVID levels.
Domestic traffic for October rose 33.7% versus October 2022, driven by the triple-digit percentage growth recorded in China, and was 4.8% above the October 2019 results.
International traffic climbed 29.7% compared to the same month a year ago. All markets saw double-digit percentage gains year on year. International RPKs reached 94.4% of October 2019 levels.
“October’s strong result brings the industry ever closer to completing the post-pandemic traffic recovery. Domestic markets remain above pre-COVID levels. International demand is recovering, but more slowly. In particular, Asia Pacific carriers’ international demand is 19.5% behind 2019. This could reflect the late lifting of COVID restrictions in parts of the region as well as commercial developments and political tensions, ” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Air Passenger Market in Detail
October 2023 (% year-on-year) | World Share1 | RPK | ASK | PLF(%-PT)2 | PLF(Level)3 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Market | 100% | 31.2% | 29.4% | 1.2% | 83.1% |
Africa | 2.1% | 21.4% | 29.0% | -4.4% | 70.7% |
Asia Pacific | 22.1% | 90.9% | 77.9% | 5.6% | 82.1% |
Europe | 30.8% | 14.7% | 12.4% | 1.7% | 85.6% |
Latin America | 6.4% | 13.6% | 12.0% | 1.3% | 84.8% |
Middle East | 9.8% | 23.9% | 21.4% | 1.6% | 80.6% |
North America | 28.8% | 10.5% | 13.7% | -2.4% | 83.6% |
1) % of industry RPKs in 2022 2) Year-on-year change in load factor 3) Load Factor Level
International Passenger Markets
Asia-Pacific airlines saw an 80.3% increase in October 2023 traffic compared to October 2022, continuing to lead the regions. Capacity climbed 72.5% and the load factor increased by 3.6 percentage points to 82.9%.
European carriers’ October 2023 traffic rose 16.1% versus October 2022….