The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has shared its latest data on global passenger movements – and for the first time, international air travel demand has surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
While international air traffic in February was up by nearly one per cent (0.9%) compared to the same month in 2019, it’s worth noting that 2024 was a leap year, which means there was one extra day this February. This has slightly inflated the growth percentages for both demand and capacity.
That said, the numbers are still encouraging globally – and specifically for the Asia-Pacific region.
In February 2024, the total demand for air travel – measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) – increased by 21.5% compared to February 2023.
Additionally, total capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), grew by 18.7% year-on-year.
The seat occupancy rate, known as load factor, was 80.6%, which is 1.9 percentage points higher than in February 2023.
IATA warning to politicians
IATA Director General Willie Walsh said, “The strong start to 2024 continued in February with all markets except North America reporting double-digit growth in passenger traffic”.
“There is good reason to be optimistic about the industry’s prospects in 2024 as airlines accelerate investments in decarbonisation and passenger demand shows resilience in the face of geopolitical and economic uncertainties,” he remarked.
“It is critical that politicians resist the temptation of cash grabs with new taxes that could destabilise this positive trajectory and make travel more expensive.
“In particular, Europe is a worry as it seems determined to lock in its sluggish economic recovery with uncompetitive tax proposals.”
Demand still high
When it comes to y-o-y increases for international air travel specifically, IATA data shows demand rose by 26.3%. Capacity also grew by 25.5% year-on-year, while load factor improved to 79.3%, a 0.5 percentage point increase compared to February 2023.
For domestic travel, demand increased by 15% compared to February 2023. Capacity rose by 9.4% year-on-year and load factor reached 82.6%, an increase of 4% compared to February 2023.
Breaking down the international passenger markets by region, all regions experienced double-digit growth year-on-year for the month.
In the Asia-Pacific region, airlines saw a significant 53.2% year-on-year increase in demand. APAC capacity also rose by 52.1% year-on-year, and load factor reached 84.9%, the highest among all regions and an increase of 0.6 percentage points from February 2023.
European carriers experienced a 15.9% year-on-year increase in demand, with capacity up by 16%, and load factor remained steady at 74.7% compared to February 2023.
Middle Eastern airlines reported a 19.7% year-on-year increase in demand, with capacity rising by 19.1%. Load factor increased to 80.8%, which is 0.4 percentage points higher than February 2023.
North American carriers saw a 16% year-on-year increase in demand, and capacity increased by 17.6%. However, the load factor decreased to 77.7%, a drop of 1.1 percentage points from February 2023.
In terms of domestic air travel, growth was led by China with a significant 35.1% increase compared to February 2023, benefiting from unrestricted Lunar New Year travel.
