In May 2024, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported significant growth in global passenger traffic, with African airlines leading the surge with a 14.1% increase in demand compared to the previous year. Capacity rose by 8.2%, resulting in a higher load factor of 72.3%, marking the region’s strongest improvement in load factors, albeit starting from the lowest overall base.
Globally, total demand in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose by 10.7% year-on-year, while total capacity in available seat kilometers (ASK) increased by 8.5%. The global load factor reached a record high for May at 83.4%, up by 1.7 percentage points from May 2023.
International demand saw a notable increase of 14.6% year-on-year, accompanied by a 14.1% rise in capacity, resulting in an improved load factor of 82.8%, up by 0.3 percentage points from May 2023.
Domestically, demand grew by 4.7% compared to May 2023, with capacity marginally increasing by 0.1%. The domestic load factor surged to 84.5%, up by 3.8 percentage points from the previous year, reflecting robust recovery and increased travel within countries.
“Strong demand for travel continues with airlines posting a 10.7 percent year-on-year increase in travel for May. Airlines filled 83.4 percent of their seats, a record for the month. With May ticket sales for early peak- season travel up nearly six percent, the growth trend shows no signs of abating. Airlines are doing everything they can to ensure smooth journeys for all travellers over the peak northern summer period. But our expectations of air navigation service providers (ANSPs) are already being tested.
“With 5.2 million minutes of air traffic control delays racked up in Europe even before the peak season begins, it is clear that Europe’s ANSPs have unresolved challenges. And the 32,000 flight delays over the Memorial Day weekend in May show that challenges persist in the US too.
“Airlines are accountable to their customers; ANSPs must be as well. ANSP performance matters to their airline customers and to millions of travellers. We all need them to do their job efficiently,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
All regions showed strong growth for international passenger markets in May 2024 compared to May 2023. The load factor increased in all regions except North America.
Asia-Pacific airlines continue to lead the way, with a 27.0 percent year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 26.0 percent year-on-year and the load factor rose to 81.6 percent (+0.6ppt compared to May 2023). This performance maintains Asian carriers as the largest contributor to industry-wide growth in May, accounting for 42% of the year-on-year increase.
European carriers saw an 11.7 percent year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 11.3 percent year-on-year, and the load factor was 84.7 percent (up 0.3ppt compared to May 2023).
Middle Eastern airlines saw a 9.7 percent year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 9.0 percent year-on-year and the load factor increased 0.5ppt to 80.7 percent compared to May 2023. Asian routes to the Middle East are particularly strong, now standing some 32 percent higher than in 2019.
Another notable development is the Europe-Middle East route, which saw an April-May RPK increase for two years in a row, reversing the previous historic pattern of a decline between these months. In the coming months, it will become clearer to what extent these trends could be related to the Russia-Ukraine war.
North American carriers saw an 8.1 percent year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 9.7 percent year-on-year, and the load factor fell to 84.0 percent (-1.2ppt compared to May 2023).
Latin American airlines saw a 15.9 percent year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity climbed 14.3 percent year-on-year. The load factor rose to 85.1 percent (+1.2ppt compared to May 2023), the highest among the regions.
