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.

International passenger market demand

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. Capacity increased 14.5%, and load factor edged up 1.2 percentage points to 85.1%.

Middle Eastern airlines posted a 24.1% rise in October 2023 traffic compared to a year ago. Capacity rose 22.2% and load factor climbed 1.2 percentage points to 80.6%. There was little impact at the regional and global levels from the Israel-Hamas war, despite reduced airline operations to/from Israel.

North American carriers had a 17.5% traffic rise in October 2023 versus the 2022 period. Capacity also increased 17.5%, and load factor was stable at 83.9%.

Latin American airlines’ traffic rose 21.2% compared to the same month in 2022. October capacity climbed faster — up 22.3% — pushing load factor down 0.8 percentage points to 85.3%, highest among the regions.

African airlines saw a 25.3% traffic increase in October 2023 versus a year ago. October capacity was up 32.4% causing load factor to decline 4.0 percentage points to 70.3%, lowest among the regions.
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