Air passenger traffic up 31% globally in June this year: IATA

KUALA LUMPUR – Total air passenger traffic in June 2023 grew by 31% year-on-year (y-o-y) as the post-Covid-19 recovery momentum continued, reaching 94.2% of the pre-pandemic levels, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA). 

The association said that for the first half of 2023, global revenue passenger-kilometres (RPKs) was up 47.2% compared to the year-ago period, although recovery trends varied across regions. 

“Domestic traffic increased 27.2% y-o-y in June, surpassing pre-pandemic RPKs by 5.1%. This result was driven by the robust performance of major domestic markets,” it said in its latest passenger market analysis report. 

IATA said total international RPKs grew 33.7% from June 2022 levels, maintaining the strong recovery seen this year. 

“Notably, Asia Pacific carriers sustained their growth momentum, buoyed by the region’s resilient air travel demand,” it added.  

IATA director-general Willie Walsh said the northern summer travel season got off to a strong start in June with double-digit demand growth and average load factors topping 84%. 

“Planes are full, which is good news for airlines, local economies, and travel and tourism-dependent jobs. All benefit from the industry’s ongoing recovery,” he said in a statement.  

Asia Pacific airlines had a 128.1% increment in June 2023 traffic compared to June 2022, easily the largest percentage gain among the regions. 

Capacity climbed 115.6%, and the load factor increased by 4.6 percentage points to 82.9%. 

Walsh said as strong as travel demand has been, it arguably could be even stronger.  

“Demand is outrunning capacity growth. Well-documented problems in the aviation supply chain mean that many airlines have not taken delivery of all the new, more environmentally friendly aircraft they had expected, while numerous aircraft are parked awaiting critical spare parts,” he said. 

Moreover, he said for the fleet that is in service, some air navigation service providers (ANSPs) are failing to deliver the requisite capacity and resilience to meet travel demand. 

“Delays and trimmed schedules are frustrating for both passengers and their airlines. Governments cannot continue to ignore the accountability of ANSPs in places where passenger rights regimes place the brunt of accountability on airlines,” he added. 

IATA represents some 300 airlines comprising 83% of global air traffic, and its statistics cover international and domestic scheduled air traffic for member and non-member airlines. 

Total passenger traffic market shares by region of carriers for 2022 in terms of RPK are Asia-Pacific (22.1%), Europe (30.8%), North America (28.8%), Middle East (9.8%), Latin America (6.4%), and Africa (2.1%). – Bernama, August 9, 2023