INTERNATIONAL. Air passenger demand in April grew by +11% year-on-year, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The global aviation body, which represents 330 airlines, noted the continued improvement in international traffic, which rose +15.8% year-on-year in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK) terms. The load factor rose by 0.7 percentage points to 82.2% in April.
Domestic air passenger traffic saw slower growth of +4%. April capacity increased by +2.1% year-on-year and the load factor was up by 1.5 percentage points to 82.6%.
International passenger market performance by region
Asia Pacific was the top-performing region in April, with passenger traffic up +32.1% year-on-year. Capacity rose by +29.3% and the load factor was up 1.7 percentage points to 83.7%.
The global aviation body emphasised the notably strong traffic flows from the Middle East and Africa to Asia.
African airlines saw passenger volumes grow strongly last month, up by +15.5% from the same period in 2023. April capacity jumped by +10.4% year-on-year, while the load factor grew by 3.2 percentage points to 73%.
IATA recorded strong air travel demand in Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, up by +14.5% , +14.2% and +10.1%, respectively.
Latin American carriers saw capacity climb by +13.5% year-on-year and load factor grew by 0.7 percentage points to 84.1%, the highest among the regions.
In the Middle East, capacity was higher by +9.9% than the same month in 2023, and the load factor was up by 3.0 percentage points to 79.3%.
North American carriers saw a slowdown in traffic volume last month, increasing by +6.5% year-on-year. April capacity rose by +10.3% year-on-year, and the load factor dropped by 2.9 percentage points to 81%.
Key domestic passenger markets
Domestic passenger traffic in China saw a sluggish growth in April, up by +4.2% as the holiday travel surge concluded.
Travel demand in Japan saw a flat performance amid the end of the fiscal year and the start of the school spring holiday. Overall, Japan’s RPK trend remains positive.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh said: “Passenger demand has been growing for 36 consecutive months. As we enter the peak northern summer travel season, there is every reason to feel optimistic for a strong summer with airlines offering a wide range of travel options.
“97% of passengers asked in our recent survey said they were satisfied with their last flight. Every part of the travel value chain needs to be focused on maintaining that.” ✈
