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Spotlight 2023

News 2023


July 2023 IATA Air Passenger Market Analysis 
Published September 6. IATA Economic Reports.

Passenger recovery on track


Highlights

  • Industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increased 26.2% year-on-year (YoY) in July, reaching 95.6% of the traffic numbers seen in 2019. Available seat-kilometers (ASKs) also saw a strong growth of 23.7% YoY, totaling 96.1% of the pre-pandemic capacity.
  • Domestic passenger traffic reached an all-time high and rose 8.3% over 2019 levels, mainly driven by the surge in PR China, where domestic RPKs grew by 22.5% relative to 2019 figures.
  • The recovery of international traffic remained stable in July, with industry-wide international RPKs standing at 11.3% below pre-covid levels.
  • Passenger load factors approached the levels achieved in 2019, reaching an industry-wide average of 85.2%, only 0.4 percentage points (ppts) away from full recovery. The latest forward-looking ticket sales indicate that this recovery momentum is expected to continue in the near term.

African airlines seat capacity up 25.6% YoY

African airlines saw a 25.6% traffic increase in July 2023 versus a year ago, the second highest percentage gain among the regions. July capacity was up 27.4% and load factor fell 1.0 percentage point to 73.9%, the lowest among the regions. For a second month in a row, Africa was the only region to see capacity growth outrun traffic demand.


Steady traffic growth continued in July

“Planes were full during July as people continue to travel in ever greater numbers. Importantly, forward ticket sales indicate that traveler confidence remains high. And there is every reason to be optimistic about the continuing recovery.”
Willie Walsh, IATA Director General

Industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) continued to expand in July, growing 26.2% year-on-year (YoY). In seasonally-adjusted terms, total passenger traffic climbed 1.7% month-on-month (MoM). This growth aligns with the steady recovery trend observed in the industry over the past seven months, exhibiting a slowing but resilient growth momentum.
   Seat capacity, measured in available seat-kilometers (ASKs), increased 23.7% YoY, and 1.5% MoM in seasonally-adjusted terms. Industry-wide RPKs and ASKs were still 4.4% and 3.9% below 2019 levels, respectively. Overall, seat capacity growth aligned with the expansion of passenger traffic in July. Download the full report...