The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its global passenger demand data for February 2024, revealing a robust increase in air travel. The report highlights a 21.5% rise in total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), compared to the same month last year. Available seat kilometres (ASK), a measure of total capacity, also saw an 18.7% year-on-year increase. The load factor, which indicates how efficiently airlines fill seats, reached 80.6%, marking a 1.9 percentage point improvement from February 2023.

International travel demand experienced a significant boost, with a 26.3% increase compared to February 2023. This growth outpaced the 25.5% rise in international capacity, leading to a load factor improvement of 79.3%, up 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. Notably, international demand surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 0.9% compared to February 2019 for the first time since the pandemic. It’s important to note that this figure is slightly inflated due to 2024 being a leap year, which adds an extra day of travel data.

Domestic air travel also showed positive trends, with a 15.0% increase in demand and a 9.4% rise in capacity year-on-year. The domestic load factor stood at 82.6%, a significant 4.0 percentage point increase from February 2023.

Regionally, the recovery was led by Asia-Pacific airlines with a remarkable 53.2% surge in demand, the highest among all regions, and a load factor of 84.9%. European carriers reported a 15.9% increase in demand, while Middle Eastern airlines saw a 19.7% rise. North American carriers experienced a 16.0% increase in demand, though their load factor dipped slightly to 77.7%. Latin American airlines rounded out the positive performance with a 21.0% increase in demand and an impressive load factor of 84.2%. This regional breakdown provides a comprehensive view of the global recovery trends.

African airlines experienced a 20.7% increase in demand year-on-year, with capacity also rising by 22.1%. Despite this growth, the load factor—a measure of how full flights are—saw a slight decrease to 74.0%, which is 0.8 percentage points lower than in February 2023.

In domestic markets, China led the demand growth with a significant 35.1% increase compared to February 2023. This surge is attributed to the unrestricted travel during the Lunar New Year celebrations, which is a peak travel period in the country.

IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, expressed optimism about the industry’s prospects, emphasizing the resilience of passenger demand amidst geopolitical and economic uncertainties. However, he also cautioned against new taxes that could hinder the industry’s recovery, particularly in Europe, where such measures could slow economic growth. This caution underlines the potential risks that the industry still faces.

The data underscores the airline industry’s strong start to 2024, with continued growth expected as investments in decarbonization and sustainable practices gain momentum. Despite the leap year skewing figures slightly, the overall trend points to a recovering and resilient air travel sector.

The post Global Air Travel Demand Soars in February 2024, IATA Reports first appeared on Stray Nomad Travel News.