Air travel growth continues in March says IATA

Demand for air travel remained strong in March 2023, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced Thursday night, (May 4).

“The calendar year first quarter ended on a strong note for air travel demand," says Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

"Domestic markets have been near their pre-pandemic levels for months. And for international travel two key waypoints were topped," he noted.

First, demand increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous month’s growth, to reach 81.6 percent of pre-COVID levels.

This was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s re-opening took hold.

"And efficiency is improving as international load factors reached 81.3 percent," Walsh pointed out.

"Even more importantly, ticket sales for both domestic and international travel give every indication that strong growth will continue into the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season.”

Significantly, Asia-Pacific airlines had a 283.1 percent increase in March 2023 traffic compared to March 2022, continuing the robust momentum since the lifting of travel restrictions in the region.

Capacity rose 161.5 percent and the load factor increased 26.8 percentage points to 84.5 percent, the second highest among the regions.

Total traffic in March 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 52.4 percent compared to March 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 88.0 percent of March 2019 levels.

Domestic traffic for March rose 34.1 percent compared to the year-ago period. Total March 2023 domestic traffic was at 98.9 percent of the March 2019 level.

International traffic climbed 68.9 percent versus March 2022 with all markets recording healthy growth, led once again by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International RPKs reached 81.6 percent of March 2019 levels while the load factor at 81.3 percent exceeded the March 2019 level by 10.1 percentage points.

Middle Eastern airlines saw a 43.1 percent traffic increase compared to March a year ago. Capacity climbed 30.5 percent and load factor pushed up 7.0 percentage points to 79.4 percent.

European carriers posted a 38.5 percent traffic rise versus March 2022. Capacity climbed 27.0 percent and load factor rose 6.6 percentage points to 79.4 percent , which was the second lowest among the regions.

North American carriers’ traffic climbed 51.6% in March 2023 versus the 2022 period. Capacity increased 34.0 percent, and load factor rose 9.8 percentage points to 84.8 percent, the highest among the regions.

Latin American airlines had a 36.5 percent traffic increase compared to the same month in 2022. March capacity climbed 33.4 percent and load factor rose 1.9 percentage points to 82.8 .percent

African airlines’ traffic rose 71.7 percent in March 2023 versus a year ago, the second highest among the regions. March capacity was up 56.2 percent and load factor climbed 6.5 percentage points to 72.2 percent, lowest among the regions.

-B