Solid growth in passenger demand continues in October 2024, Reports IATA

Published on December 5, 2024

By: Paramita Sarkar

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its global passenger traffic data for October 2024, showing a continued strong growth trend across the air travel industry.

The key highlights from the report are as follows:

• Global Demand: Total passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), increased by 7.1% compared to October 2023. This growth was in line with an increase in seat capacity, which rose by 6.1% year-on-year (YoY). The overall passenger load factor (PLF) reached 83.9%, a 0.8 percentage point improvement over the previous year.
• International Markets: International travel showed impressive growth, with demand up by 9.5% YoY. Capacity expanded by 8.6%, and the load factor improved to 83.5%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous October.
• Domestic Markets: Domestic demand grew by 3.5% YoY, while capacity increased by 2.0%. The domestic load factor rose to 84.5%, up 1.2 percentage points from October 2023.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, commented on the results, emphasizing that while strong demand is encouraging, the steady improvement in load factors reflects the industry’s ability to fly people more efficiently.

He cautioned against potential proposals to tax passengers in an effort to reduce emissions, arguing that such actions could inadvertently undo the industry’s hard-won progress in improving efficiency.

Regional Insights: Growth Across the Globe

• Asia Pacific saw the highest growth in passenger demand, with a 12.7% YoY increase. The region’s capacity also grew by 9.7%, and the load factor reached 84.1%, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous year.
• Europe reported a 7.9% increase in demand, with capacity growing by 6.5%. European carriers achieved a load factor of 86.2%, up 1.1 percentage points compared to October 2023.
• Latin America experienced a 7.0% rise in demand, while capacity increased by 7.5%. The load factor in the region was 84.5%, slightly down by 0.4 percentage points from last year.
• Middle East carriers showed a 2.5% increase in demand, with capacity up by 2.7%. The load factor was 80.3%, slightly down from last year.
• North America saw a modest 0.3% rise in demand, with capacity increasing by 1.6%. However, the load factor in North America fell by 1.1 percentage points to 83.2%.
• Africa reported a significant 9.3% increase in demand, with a 5.2% rise in capacity. The load factor in Africa increased sharply by 2.8 percentage points to 73.8%.

Key Market Developments

• Domestic Markets: The US domestic market experienced a slight contraction, with demand down by 1.2% YoY, despite an increase in capacity. Meanwhile, domestic traffic in China continued its rapid growth, with a 9.7% increase in demand, as airlines increasingly deployed wide-body aircraft on domestic routes.
• International Travel: International traffic in the Asia-Pacific region was particularly strong, driven by increased demand from China. Latin American carriers also saw robust growth in international markets, with a 10.9% increase in demand. In contrast, Middle Eastern and North American carriers faced slower growth rates in international markets.
• Europe’s Growth: The intra-European international market saw a strong 8.7% increase in demand, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. This was fueled by strong demand from both Eastern and Western European markets.

Looking Ahead

As the airline industry moves further away from the pandemic era, IATA’s data suggests that overall growth is expected to stabilize, with passenger traffic likely to approach pre-pandemic levels in the coming months.

The steady rise in load factors, especially within international markets, reflects airlines’ efforts to maximize efficiency while meeting growing demand for air travel.

Despite regional variations, the global air passenger market continues its positive trajectory, driven by strong demand in both domestic and international markets.