Early Boost for 2024: Air Passenger Demand Up 16.6%
Africa & Middle East regions: Passenger demand up 18.5% and 16.2% in January 2024.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported air passenger demand in January 2024 surged 16.6% compared to January 2023 – indicating an early boost for the year.
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), was up 16.6%; total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 14.1%; and the load factor was 79.9% (+1.7pt).
International demand rose 20.8%; capacity was up 20.9% and the load factor remained at 79.7% (+0.0pt).
Domestic demand rose 10.4%; capacity was up 4.6% and the load factor was 80.2% (+4.2pt).
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, highlighted the positive trend:
“2024 is off to a strong start despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” he said. “[…] We will be looking to governments for policies that help aviation to reduce costs, improve efficiency and make progress towards net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.”
Air Travel Passenger Markets – MEA
IATA reports, the Middle East continued its positive trajectory with a 16.2% year-on-year traffic increase for January 2024.
Capacity growth kept pace at 15.7%, resulting in a slight increase in load factor to 79.9%.
Africa region also saw a healthy traffic increase of 18.5% compared to January 2023.
However, capacity growth outpaced demand at 19.2%, leading to a small decline in load factor to 73.3%, the lowest among all regions.
