KUALA LUMPUR – Total air passenger traffic in April 2023 rose 45.8% compared to April 2022, with the current global traffic standing at 90.5% of pre-Covid-19 levels, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The association said domestic traffic for April this year rose 42.6% compared to the year-ago period and has now fully recovered, posting a 2.9% increase over the April 2019 results.
“International traffic climbed 48.0% versus April 2022 with all markets recording healthy growth, with carriers in the Asia-Pacific region continuing to lead the recovery,” it said in a statement, adding that international revenue passenger kilometres reached 83.6% of April 2019 levels.
IATA director-general Willie Walsh said April continued the strong traffic trend seen in the first quarter of 2023, and the easing of inflation as well as rising consumer confidence combined with declining jet fuel prices suggest sustained strong air travel demand and moderating cost pressures.
“In just a few days, leaders of the global aviation community will gather in Istanbul at the 79th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit.
“Regulation and other key issues, including the critical topic of sustainability, will be on the agenda,” said Walsh.
As for Asia-Pacific airlines, IATA said it saw a 192.7% increase in April 2023 traffic compared to April 2022, while capacity climbed 145.3% and the load factor increased by 13.2 percentage points to 81.6%.
“Furthermore, traffic within Asia also showed positive momentum, reaching 55.6% of pre-pandemic levels,” it said.
It noted that European carriers had a 22.6% traffic rise versus April 2022 and capacity rose 16.0%, while load factor climbed 4.5 percentage points to 83.3%, which was the second highest among the regions.
Meanwhile, the association said Middle Eastern airlines posted a 38.0% traffic increase and North American carriers’ traffic climbed 34.8% in April 2023 versus the 2022 period. – Bernama, June 2, 2023
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