IATA Market Analysis October 2023

Passenger traffic growth remains on track in October

• Industry-wide revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increased 31.2% year-on-year (YoY) in October and closed the gap to pre-Covid levels to within 2%.

• Available seat-kilometers (ASKs) climbed by 29.4% YoY, recovering to 97.0% of pre-pandemic capacity. As seat capacity stood in line with passenger demand, the global passenger load factor (PLF) remained at 83%.

• Domestic traffic growth over 2019 levels stabilized at 4.8% with an annual growth rate at 33.7%. International passenger traffic reached 94.4% of pre-pandemic levels with a 29.7% growth YoY.

• Air ticket sales trended close to 2019 levels, indicating resilient demand for air travel despite the economic challenges faced by consumers.

• Despite reduced airline operations to and from Israel due to the Israel-Gaza conflict in October 2023, global and regional traffic seemingly remained largely unaffected.

Cargo volumes expand amid stabilized trade

• Global air cargo tonne-kilometers (CTKs) registered the third consecutive year-on-year (YoY) growth in October by 3.8%. Compared to the pre-pandemic level, industry CTKs were 2.4% lower.

• Air cargo capacity, measured by available cargo tonne-kilometers (ACTKs), increased by 13.1% YoY in October, owing to the continued strong return of international passenger belly capacity. Industry ACTKs surpassed 2019 levels by 2.8%.

• Global trade stabilized in September, and inflation eased in most major economies. In the meantime, global jet fuel prices decreased by 7.8% from September and closed October with USD 120.8 per barrel on average.

• Airlines from all regions recorded annual increases in their international CTKs in October, with carriers from the Middle East exhibiting the most significant growth by 10.8% YoY.

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