African air travel soars 16.9% in June, leads global load factor

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International passenger demand increased by 12.3%, with capacity up 12.7% and a load factor of 85.0%, down 0.3 percentage points from June 2023. Domestic demand grew by 4.3%, capacity increased by 2.1%, and the load factor reached 85.0%, up 1.7 percentage points from the previous year.

"Demand grew across all regions as the peak Northern summer travel season began in June. And with overall capacity growth lagging demand we saw a very strong average load factor of 85% achieved in both domestic and international operations.

"Operating with such high load factors is both good and challenging. It makes it even more important for all the stakeholders to operate with equal levels of efficiency to minimize delays and get travellers to their destinations on schedule," said Willie Walsh, Iata's director general.

“As the Olympic Games unfold in Paris there is pride across the aviation industry for its continuing role in supporting the Olympic story by bringing many of the athletes, fans, and officials together. It is a great reminder of how aviation transforms our very big world into a global community. We wish France every success as the host of the games and cheer all the athletes who will demonstrate the best of human endeavour over the next weeks," says Walsh.

Air passenger market in detail

International passenger markets by region

All regions showed strong growth for international passenger markets in June 2024 compared to June 2023.

Asia-Pacific airlines' growth remained strong, with a 22.6% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 22.9% year-on-year and the load factor was 83.0% (-0.2ppt compared to June 2023). The Africa-Asia route was the fastest expanding regional pair, growing 38.1%.

European carriers saw a 9.1% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 9.8% year-on-year, and the load factor was 87.4% (-0.6ppt compared to June 2023).

Middle Eastern airlines saw a 9.6% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 9.4% year-on-year and the load factor was 79.7% (+0.1ppt compared to June 2023).

North American carriers saw a 6.6% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 8.6% year-on-year, and the load factor was 88.7% (-1.6 ppt compared to June 2023), the highest among regions.

Latin American airlines saw a 15.3% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity climbed 15.6% year-on-year. The load factor was 85.1% (-0.2ppt compared to June 2023).

African airlines saw a 16.9% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity was up 5.8% year-on-year. The load factor rose to 77.0% (+7.4ppt compared to June 2023). This was the largest improvement in load factor among all regions.

Domestic markets

Domestic demand increased in June, with solid growth in most key markets, bar Japan and Australia. Brazil posted the largest gain with 7.6% year-on-year growth. Year-on-year June domestic ticket sales for July and August travel dipped -0.9%, pointing to a gradual moderation in demand back to pre-pandemic growth rates.

Air passenger market in detail

1% of industry RPKs in 2023 | Note: the six domestic passenger markets for which broken-down data are available account for approximately 31.4% of global total RPKs and 78.8% of total domestic RPKs