IATA: Peak Travel Season ends on a high note in August

“The Northern Hemisphere peak summer travel season finished on a high note. Considering the prevailing economic uncertainties, travel demand is progressing well. And the removal or easing of travel restrictions at some key Asian destinations, including Japan, will certainly accelerate the recovery in Asia. The mainland of China is the last major market retaining severe COVID-19 entry restrictions,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

Middle Eastern airlines’ traffic rose 144.9% in August compared to August 2021. Capacity rose 72.2% versus the year-ago period, and load factor climbed 23.7 percentage points to 79.8%.

African airlines experienced a 69.5% rise in August RPKs versus a year ago. August 2022 capacity was up 45.3% and load factor climbed 10.8 percentage points to 75.9%, the lowest among regions. International traffic between Africa and neighbouring regions is close to pre-pandemic levels.

Data for global air cargo markets demonstrated the industry’s resilience amid economic uncertainties.

Global demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers, fell 8.3% compared to August 2021 (-9.3% for international operations). This was a slight improvement on the year-on-year decline of 9.7% seen in July.

Capacity was 6.3% above August 2021 (+6.1% for international operations). This is a significant expansion over the 3.6% year-on-year increase in July.

“Air cargo continues to demonstrate resilience. Cargo volumes, while tracking below the exceptional performance of 2021, have been relatively stable in the face of economic uncertainties and geopolitical conflicts. Market signals remain mixed. August presented several indicators with upside potential: oil prices stabilised, inflation slowed and there was a slight expansion in goods traded globally. But the decrease in new export orders in all markets except the US tells us that developments in the months ahead will need to be watched carefully,” said Walsh.