According to IATA’s comprehensive data for
February 2023, airlines continue to report a strong growth in air
travel demand.
Total traffic in February 2023, measured in
revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), rose 55.5% compared to February 2022.
Globally traffic is now at 84.9% of February 2019 levels.
Domestic traffic for February rose 25.2% compared to
the same month in 2022. Total February 2023 domestic traffic was at 97.2% of the
February 2019 level.
International traffic climbed 89.7%
versus February 2022 with all markets recording strong growth, led
once again by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International
RPKs reached 77.5% of February 2019 levels.
“Despite the uncertain economic signals, demand for air travel
continues to be strong across the globe and particularly in the
Asia-Pacific region. The industry is now just about 15% below 2019
levels of demand and that gap is narrowing each month,” said
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Asia-Pacific
airlines had a 378.7% increase in February 2023 traffic compared
to February 2022, maintaining the very positive momentum of the
past few months since the lifting of travel restrictions in the
region. Capacity rose 176.4% and the load factor increased 34.9
percentage points to 82.5%, the second highest among the regions.
European carriers posted a 47.9% traffic rise versus
February 2022. Capacity climbed 29.7%, and load factor rose 9.1
percentage points to 73.7%, which was the lowest among the
regions.
Middle Eastern airlines saw a 75%
traffic increase compared to February 2022. Capacity climbed
40.5% and load factor pushed up 15.8 percentage points to 80%.
North American carriers’ traffic climbed 67.4% in
February 2023 versus the 2022 period. Capacity increased 39.5%,
and load factor rose 12.8 percentage points to 76.6%.
Latin American airlines had a 44.1% traffic increase compared
to the same month in 2022. February capacity climbed 34.0% and
load factor rose 5.8 percentage points to 82.7%, the highest among
the regions.
African airlines’ traffic rose 90.7%
in February 2023 versus a year ago. February capacity was up 61.7%
and load factor climbed 11.4 percentage points to 75%.
Japan’s
domestic traffic surged 161.4% in February compared to a year ago
and now stands at 89.9% of pre-pandemic levels.
US
airlines’ domestic demand rose 10.6% in February and was 0.7%
ahead of February 2019 levels.
“People are flying in ever greater numbers,” said
Walsh. “With the Easter and Passover holidays we are expecting
large numbers of travelers to take to the skies in many parts of
the world. They should do so with confidence that airlines have
been rebuilding resiliency that suffered owing to the pandemic.
Other participants in the air travel value chain, including
airports, air navigation service providers, and airport security
staff, need to have the same commitment to ensuring our customers
can enjoy smooth holiday travel.”
