IATA: Passenger demand remains strong in January

Global air passenger demand “remained strong” in January and continued its positive trend, according to figures revealed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Global traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), grew 67% compared to January 2022 and stood at 84.2% compared to the same month in 2019, the last full year prior to the start of the pandemic.

Domestic traffic was up 32.7% year-on-year. According to IATA, the easing of sanitary restrictions in China, one of the world’s largest markets, was key to this result. In addition, a 97.4% recovery was achieved compared to January 2019.

International traffic accelerated by 104% year-on-year. Increases were reported in all regions of the world. Passenger traffic on international flights stood at 77% compared to January 2019.

“Air travel demand is off to a very healthy start in 2023”, commented Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. “The rapid removal of COVID-19 restrictions for Chinese domestic and international travel bodes well for the continued strong industry recovery from the pandemic throughout the year”, he added.

“And, importantly, we have not seen the many economic and geopolitical uncertainties of the day dampening demand for travel”, Walsh said.

Domestic passenger air transport in January 2023

Australia’s domestic market recorded the largest year-on-year increase in terms of revenue passenger kilometers (RPK). In the first month of the year it stood at 107% compared to January 2022. Thus, it achieved a recovery of 88.8% compared to the same month of 2019.

On the other hand, in China’s domestic market, the year-on-year increase was 37.2% and also represented the first month-on-month growth figure since August 2022. Traffic levels thus stood at 86.3% compared to the period before the start of the pandemic. The Asian country maintained a market share of 6.4% of the global total.

India’s domestic market, one of the fastest growing markets in the world, recorded a 92% year-on-year increase and maintained a 2% share of the total.

In Latin America, Brazil continued to lead the recovery: its domestic market again accounted for 1.5% of the global total in January 2023.

International passenger air transport by region in January 2023

• Airlines from Asia-Pacific: year-on-year traffic growth of 376.3%, the largest increase among all regions (albeit from a very low base due to the fact that much of the region was heavily constrained in January 2022). Capacity increased 167.1% and the occupancy rate rose 36.6 percentage points to 83.3%.
• Airlines from Europe: year-on-year traffic growth of 60.6%. Capacity increased by 30.1% and the occupancy rate rose by 14.2 percentage points to 75%.
• Airlines from the Middle East: year-on-year traffic growth of 97.7%. Capacity increased by 45.9% and the occupancy rate rose by 20.8 percentage points to 79.2%.
• Airlines from North America: year-on-year traffic growth of 82.4%. Capacity increased by 37.3% and the occupancy rate rose 19.7 percentage points to 79.6%.
• Airlines from Latin America: year-on-year traffic growth of 46.8%. Capacity increased by 34.3% and the occupancy rate rose by 7.1 percentage points to 82.7%, the second best performance globally.
• Airlines from Africa: year-on-year traffic growth of 124.8%. Capacity increased by 82.5% and the occupancy rate rose 13.9 percentage points to 73.7%, the lowest figure globally.

See also: IATA: “Good pace of recovery in passenger demand” in 2022