IATA reports strong post COVID travel demand in June

IATA has reported that the post-COVID recovery momentum continued in June for Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Willie Walsh Image: IATA

“The northern summer travel season got off to a strong start in June with double-digit demand growth and average load factors topping 84%. Planes are full which is good news for airlines, local economies, and travel and tourism dependent jobs. All benefit from the industry’s ongoing recovery,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.

International Passenger Markets

Asia-Pacific airlines had a 128.1% increase in June 2023 traffic compared to June 2022, easily the largest percentage gain among the regions. Capacity climbed 115.6% and the load factor increased by 4.6 percentage points to 82.9%.

Middle Eastern airlines’ June traffic climbed 29.2% compared to June last year. Capacity rose 25.9% and load factor improved 2.0 percentage points to 79.8%.

African airlines’ traffic rose 34.7% in June 2023 versus a year ago, the second highest percentage gain among the regions. June capacity was up 44.8% and load factor fell 5.1 percentage points to 68.1%, lowest among the regions. Africa was the only region to see a decline in the monthly international load factor compared to the year ago period.