The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that the strong recovery in air travel after the pandemic will continue in August 2023.
It should be remembered that in 2020, due to the pandemic, the airline sector presented the greatest crisis in its history due to the closure of air terminals and suspension of commercial routes.
In this sense, Global traffic, measured in transported passenger kilometers (RPK), grew by 28.4% year-on-year in August 2023. The sector is already at 95.7% compared to at pre-pandemic levels of 2019
Regarding domestic traffic, this increased by 25.4% year-on-year in August 2023, and is now 9.2% above August 2019, driven by domestic demand in China.
For its part, international traffic shows a recovery thanks to an increase of 30.4% year-on-year in August 2023. All regions recorded double-digit growth. International RPKs reached 88.5% compared to August 2019.
“August was a good month for air travel. So far this year, international traffic has increased by 50% compared to the previous year, and flight bookings show a rebound in travel by the end of the year,” said Willie Walsh, director general of IATA.
| market global air passenger transport – August 2023 | |||||
| World share¹ | August 2023 (% YoY) | ||||
| RPK | ASK | PLF (%-pt)2 | PLF (level)3 | ||
| TOTAL MARKET | 100.0% | 28.4% | 24.9% | 23% | 84.6% |
| Africa | 2.1% | 24.8% | 24.3% | 0.3% | 76.4% |
| Pacific Asia | 22.1% | 73.4% | 57.7% | 7.4% | 82.2% |
| Europe | 30.8% | 11.6% | 10.2% | 1.1% | 87.6% |
| Latin America | 6.4% | 17.6% | 14.5% | 2.2% | 85.1% |
| Middle East | 9.8% | 26.4% | 21.6% | 3.2% | 83.0% |
| North America | 28.8% | 12.6% | 13.0% | -0.3% | 85.8% |
| 1% Global RPKs 2022; 2Variation in the occupation factor; 3Load factor level | |||||
As for Latin American airlines, traffic increased 26.4% year-on-year in August 2023. Capacity rose 23.8% and load factor increased 1.7 percentage points, to 86.1%. While in North America, traffic growth of 18.6% year-on-year was recorded in August 2023. Capacity rose 17.5% and load factor improved 0.8 percentage points to 87.7%, best global data for the third consecutive month.
Nicolás Zorro for