The global representative body for the airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), has reported that, worldwide, air passenger traffic continued to recover strongly in April. In year-on-year (y-o-y) terms, it jumped 45.8% and was at 90.5% of the level it had been before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The load factor in April was 81.3%, which was a mere 1.8 percentage points below its pre-Covid level.

Domestic air passenger travel leapt 42.6% in April (y-o-y) and not only reached, but surpassed, its pre-pandemic level, being 2.9% higher than the figure recorded in April 2019. International air passenger traffic zoomed 48% in April, and reached 83.6% of the level it had been before the pandemic hit.

“April continued the strong traffic trend we saw in the 2023 first quarter,” highlighted IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “The easing of inflation and rising consumer confidence in most [Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries combined with declining jet fuel prices, suggests sustained strong air travel demand and moderating cost pressures.”

The best performing of IATA’s six regions was the Asia-Pacific, where demand soared 170.8% in April, y-o-y. Africa was second, jumping 47.1%. Then the Middle East, up 36.8%, followed by Europe (22.2%), Latin America (15.3%) and finally North America (13.9%).

Regarding international air passenger demand in April, the ranking was somewhat different. The Asia-Pacific remained in first place, the y-o-y figure rocketing 192.7%, and Africa was again second, shooting up 53.5%. The Middle East stayed in third place, with a jump of 38%. But fourth place was taken by North America (34.8%), while Latin America was again fifth (with an increase of 25.8%) and Europe came last, with 22.6%.

The six largest domestic air passenger markets tracked by IATA are Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan and the US. Of these, by far the biggest y-o-y increase for April was reported from China, a stratospheric 536.2%. Japan was next, with 42.6%, followed by India at 18.3%. Brazil reported an increase of 5.7% and the US came in at 5.5%. Australia actually reported a decline of 4.5%.