KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced that the strong post-pandemic passenger traffic trend continued in August, with the total traffic (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rising by 28.4 per cent year-on-year compared with August 2022.
Globally, traffic is now at 95.7 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, it said in a statement today.
It added that domestic traffic for August rose 25.4 per cent year-on-year, largely driven by Chinese domestic demand.
Meanwhile, international traffic climbed 30.4 per cent year-on-year and all markets saw double-digit percentage gains year-on-year.
“Demand for air travel had improved in August. Year-to-date, international traffic increased by 50 per cent year-on-year and ticket sales data show international bookings strengthening for travel in the last part of the year,” said IATA’s director general Willie Walsh.
Asia-Pacific airlines continued to take the lead as traffic in August 2023 grew to 98.5 per cent year-on-year , with capacity rising by 85.5 per cent year-on-year and load factor expanding by 84.2 per cent year-on-year .
European carriers’ August traffic rose 13.6 per cent year-on-year, while capacity increased 12.3 per cent year-on-year and load factor edged up 1.1 percentage points year-on-year to 86.8 per cent.
Middle Eastern airlines posted a 27.3 per cent year-on-year increase in August traffic, while capacity rose 22.7 per cent year-on-year and load factor climbed 3.0 percentage points year-on-year to 83.1 per cent.
“Heading into the last quarter of the year, the airline industry has nearly fully recovered to the pre-pandemic 2019 demand level.
“Having seen the economic, social, and personal losses when airlines could not fly during the Covid-19 crisis, the industry is determined to secure a sustainable long-term future by achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”
” — Bernama
