IATA Reports 0.2% Rise in Global Passenger Demand in July

Global air travel edged higher in July, with passenger demand rising 0.2% from a year earlier despite declines among carriers in North America and the Middle East.

The figures, released by the International Air Transport Association, show that demand measured in revenue passenger kilometres rose 1.2% when the Middle East was excluded. Airlines increased available seat kilometres by 0.3%, while the overall passenger load factor slipped 0.1 percentage points to 85.2%.

International demand fell 0.1%. Without the Middle East, however, it would have increased 1.5%. International capacity grew 0.3%, and the international load factor declined 0.3 percentage points to 85.2%.

Domestic travel performed slightly better, with demand up 0.6%. Domestic capacity increased 0.2%, while the load factor gained 0.3 percentage points to 85.3%.

Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president for sustainability and chief economist, described the peak Northern summer travel season as “a mostly positive story for air travel.” She said the increase came despite year-on-year declines among carriers in North America and the Middle East, while traffic through Gulf hubs continued to recover.

High fuel costs, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions remained concerns. Even so, Owens Thomsen said airlines were confident about demand in the final part of the year. Seat capacity is expected to expand by almost 3% in September.

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a mostly positive story for air travel