IATA: Global Passenger Traffic Now at 95.6% of pre-COVID Levels
Global passenger traffic in the Northern Hemisphere this July reached 95.6 percent of pre-COVID levels in 2019, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday.
Data provided by the association showed that total traffic in July 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 26.2 percent compared to July 2022.
“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,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh.
According to IATA, domestic flights once again helped the industry’s upward trends.
Domestic traffic for July rose 21.5 percent versus July 2022 and was 8.3 percent above the July 2019 results. July RPKs are the highest ever recorded, strongly supported by surging demand in the China domestic market.
China’s domestic traffic jumped 71.9 percent in July compared to a year ago and is now 22.5 percent above July 2019 levels, which was the strongest gain against pre-pandemic levels among the domestic markets.
July 2023 sees highest monthly international passenger load factor ever recorded
International traffic climbed 29.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago with all markets showing robust growth. International RPKs reached 88.7 percent of July 2019 levels. The passenger load factor (PLF) for the industry reached 85.7 percent, which is the highest monthly international PLF ever recorded, according to IATA.
“The Northern Hemisphere summer is living up to expectations for very strong traffic demand,” Walsh said.
However, he labeled the performance of some of the key air navigation services providers as as “deeply disappointing” for many reasons: from insufficient staffing to the “failure fiasco” of NATS (air traffic control services) in the UK.
“While the industry was largely prepared to accommodate a return to pre-pandemic levels of operations, unfortunately, the same cannot be said for our infrastructure providers. These must be promptly corrected,” he said.
Walsh also said that “even more worrying” are political decisions by some governments — among them Mexico and the Netherlands — to impose capacity cuts at their major hubs that will most certainly destroy jobs and damage local and national economies.
“The numbers continue to tell us that people want and need air connectivity. That’s why governments should be working with us so that people can travel safely, sustainably and efficiently,” he added.
According to IATA, air transport this year is expected to almost return to its pre-COVID passenger numbers at 4.35 billion compared to 4.54 in 2019.