Translations: La demanda de los viajes aéreos crece 11% en abril (pdf)
国际航协：4月航空客运需求增长11% (pdf)
Demanda de passageiros aumentou 11% em abril (pdf)
Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released data for April 2024 global passenger demand with the following highlights:
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), was up 11.0% compared to April 2023. Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 9.6% year-on-year. The April load factor was 82.4% (+1.0ppt compared to April 2023).
International demand rose 15.8% compared to April 2023; capacity was up 14.8% year-on-year and the load factor improved to 82.2% (+0.7ppt on April 2023).
Domestic demand rose 4.0% compared to April 2023; capacity was up 2.1% year-on-year and the load factor was 82.6% (+1.5ppt compared to April 2023).
“Passenger demand has been growing for 36 consecutive months. As we enter the peak northern summer travel season, there is every reason to feel optimistic for a strong summer with airlines offering a wide range of travel options. 97% of passengers asked in our recent survey said they were satisfied with their last flight. Every part of the travel value chain needs to be focused on maintaining that,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
The IATA Passenger Survey also revealed 88% agreement that ’air travel makes my life better’. “That’s an important motivation as our members gather for the IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit in Dubai next week. This strong endorsement of the power of air connectivity to transform lives and boost economies brings with it a challenge that will also be on the minds of all attending. It is critically important that we achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 so that people can continue to rely on all the benefits of air travel,” said Walsh.
Air Passenger Market in Detail
| aPRIL 2024 (% year-on-year) | World Share1 | RPK | ASK | PLF(%-PT)2 | PLF(Level)3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Market | 100% | 11.0% | 9.6% | 1.0% | 82.4% |
| Africa | 2.1% | 15.7% | 11.6% | 2.6% | 73.4% |
| Asia Pacific | 31.7% | 17.4% | 11.8% | 3.9% | 82.4% |
| Europe | 27.1% | 9.3% | 9.2% | 0.1% | 83.8% |
| Latin America | 5.5% | 8.0% | 7.2% | 0.6% | 82.2% |
| Middle East | 9.4% | 14.1% | 9.7% | 3.1% | 79.2% |
| North America | 24.2% | 4.2% | 7.6% | -2.7% | 83.0% |
1) % of industry RPKs in 2023 2) Year-on-year change in load factor 3) Load Factor Level
Regional Breakdown - International Passenger Markets
All regions showed strong growth for international passenger markets in April 2024 compared to April 2023. The load factor increased to a two-year high, and capacity increases were well-matched to demand.
Asia-Pacific airlines continue to lead the way, with a 32.1% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 29.3% year-on-year and the load factor rose to 83.7% (+1.7ppt compared to April 2023). Traffic flows from the Middle East and Africa to Asia are notably strong.
European carriers saw a 10.1% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 10.0% year-on-year, and the load factor was 83.3% (up just 0.1ppt compared to April 2023). International routes from Europe have surpassed pre-COVID levels to all regions except Africa.
Middle Eastern airlines saw a 14.2% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 9.9% year-on-year and the load factor increased +3.0ppt to 79.3% compared to April 2023.
North American carriers saw a 6.5% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 10.3% year-on-year, and the load factor fell to 81.0% (-2.9ppt compared to April 2023).
Latin American airlines saw a 14.5% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity climbed 13.5% year-on-year. The load factor rose to 84.1% (+0.7ppt compared to April 2023), the highest among the regions.
African airlines saw an 15.5% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity was up 10.4% year-on-year. The load factor rose to 73.0% (+3.2ppt compared to April 2023).
Domestic Passenger Markets
Domestic demand increased at a slower pace in April. China’s growth rate moderated to 4.2% reflecting the end of the holiday surge. Japan’s almost flat performance is explained by the end of the fiscal year and the start of the school spring holiday. Overall, Japan’s RPK trend remains positive.
| aPRIL 2024 (% year-on-year) | World Share1 | RPK | ASK | PLF(%-PT)2 | PLF(LEVEL)3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | 39.9% | 4.0% | 2.1% | 1.5% | 82.6% |
| Domestic Australia | 0.8% | 6.9% | 8.8% | -1.4% | 79.2% |
| Domestic Brazil | 1.2% | 6.5% | 7.2% | -0.5% | 76.9% |
| Domestic China P.R. | 11.2% | 4.2% | -4.4% | 6.7% | 81.1% |
| Domestic India | 1.8% | 2.7% | 4.7% | -1.7% | 86.6% |
| Domestic Japan | 1.1% | 0.1% | -1.0% | 0.8% | 70.7% |
| Domestic US | 15.4% | 3.2% | 6.4% | -2.6% | 83.5% |
1) % of industry RPKs in 2023 2) year-on-year change in load factor 3) Load Factor Level
> View the April Air Passenger Market Analysis (pdf)
For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org
Notes for Editors:
- IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 330 airlines comprising over 80% of global air traffic.
- You can follow us on X for announcements, policy positions, and other useful industry information.
- Fly Net Zero
- Annual General Meeting 2024 media kit
- Statistics compiled by IATA Economics using direct airline reporting complemented by estimates, including the use of FlightRadar24 data provided under license.
- All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data. Historic figures are subject to revision.
- Domestic RPKs accounted for about 41.9% of the total market in 2022. The six domestic markets in this report account for 31.3% of global RPKs.
- Explanation of measurement terms:
- RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometers measures actual passenger traffic
- ASK: Available Seat Kilometers measures available passenger capacity
- PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used.
- IATA statistics cover international and domestic scheduled air traffic for IATA member and non-member airlines.
- Total passenger traffic market shares by region of carriers for 2023 in terms of RPK are: Asia-Pacific 31.7%, Europe 27.1%, North America 24.2%, Middle East 9.4%, Latin America 5.5%, and Africa 2.1%.
- The IATA Passenger survey of 6,500 recent (in the last 12 months) airline travelers was conducted between March 29th and April 14th in Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, UAE, UK, USA, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Spain and China. This Is Motif Ltd prepared the questionnaire and analysis based on data collection and tabulation by Dynata.
