April air traffic growth once again was led by increasing international demand, according to the latest International Air Transport Association report.
April international demand, as measured in revenue passenger kilometers, was up 15.8 percent year over year, with capacity as measured in available seat kilometers up 14.8 percent. Domestic demand for the month increased 4 percent versus April 2023, while domestic capacity was up 2.1 percent.
Total global air demand for the month was up 11 percent compared with April 2023, with capacity up 9.6 percent. The April load factor was 82.4 percent, up 1 percentage point year over year. All regions reported high single-digit or double-digit total demand increases, except for North America, which was up 4.2 percent year over year. It also had the second-highest load factor at 83 percent—following Europe at 83.8 percent— but that was down 2.7 percentage points from April 2023.
“Passenger demand has been growing for 36 consecutive months,” IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement. “As we enter the peak northern summer travel season, there is every reason to feel optimistic for a strong summer with airlines offering a wide range of travel options.”
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The international load factor was up 0.7 percentage points to 82.2 percent, a two-year high, according to IATA. Asia-Pacific again reported the largest gains in demand and capacity at 32.1 percent and 29.3 percent year over year, respectively. Demand increased by double-digit percentages compared with April 2023 for all other regions except North America, where it increased 6.5 percent. Capacity also showed double-digit increases in nearly all regions, with the Middle East barely missing that mark with a 9.9 percent gain. Further, international routes from Europe have surpassed pre-Covid levels to all regions except Africa, according to IATA.
Domestically, demand gains were in the low- to mid-single digits, with capacity the same, save for declines in China and Japan. The latter reported just 0.1 percent demand growth year over year, but that was due to the “end of the fiscal year and the start of the school spring holiday,” according to IATA. “Overall, Japan’s [demand] trend remains positive.”
