Dubai, UAE – Middle Eastern airlines carriers posted a 38 percent increase in traffic in April compared to the same month in 2022, demonstrating a positive recovery trend in the aviation industry, according to the latest report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
With a capacity increase of 27.8 percent, Middle Eastern airlines accommodated the growing demand for air travel. The load factor, which represents the percentage of seats filled on flights, rose by 5.6 percentage points to reach 76.2 percent.
In April 2023, total global traffic – domestic as well as international – measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), surged by an impressive 45.8 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
Total air travel reached 90.5 percent of pre-Covid levels, highlighting a significant rebound in passenger demand. The industry load factor stood at 81.3 percent, only 1.8 percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.
Domestic air travel experienced a remarkable resurgence in April, with a 42.6 percent increase compared to the same month in the previous year.
International traffic climbed 48 percent versus April 2022 with all markets recording healthy growth. The carriers in the Asia-Pacific region continued to lead the recovery recording a remarkable 192.7 percent increase in April 2023 compared to the same month in 2022. International RPKs reached 83.6 percent of April 2019 levels.
European carriers witnessed a significant traffic rise of 22.6 percent compared to April 2022. With a capacity increase of 16 percent, the load factor climbed by 4.5 percentage points to 83.3 percent, the second-highest among all regions.
North American carriers observed a solid traffic growth of 34.8 percent in April 2023 compared to the same period in 2022. With a capacity increase of 26.5 percent, North American airlines achieved the highest load factor among all regions, reaching 83.8 percent. North American international traffic has fully recovered, surpassing April 2019 levels by 0.4 percent in terms of RPKs.
Latin American airlines experienced a 25.8 percent increase in traffic compared to April 2022. Although capacity rose by 26.4 percent, the load factor declined marginally by 0.4 percentage points to 83.1 percent.
African airlines witnessed the second-highest traffic growth among all regions, with a significant 53.5 percent increase in April 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Despite a capacity increase of 50 percent, the load factor rose by 1.6 percentage points to 69.8 percent, the lowest among the regions.
On domestic front, China’s domestic traffic rose 536.2 percent in April compared to a year ago and surpassing the April 2019 levels by 6 percent.
US airlines’ domestic demand climbed 5.5 percent in April and was 3.3 percent above the April 2019 levels.