The aviation industry’s rate of growth may be slowing, but importantly it is still growing, shows the latest IATA data.
Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kms was up 2.6% on Feb, with capacity up 2% and load factor up 0.4 percentage points to 81.1%.
International demand rose 5.6%, while domestic demand fell 1.9% for the month under review. The rate of growth is slower than what has been seen previously, but IATA director general Willie Walsh points out that much of this can be attributed to the leap year last year, as well as 2025’s lunar new year falling in Jan.
The good news is Feb traffic hit an all-time high, and Walsh states that the number of scheduled flights is set to continue increasing in Mar and Apr.
. . . Regions
All regions except North America established record levels of demand for Feb, led by Asia-Pacific airlines as usual, which achieved a 9.5% year-on-year increase in demand.
African and Latin American airlines tied in second, both seeing demand rise 6.7%, on last Feb, while demand rose 5.7% for European carriers and 3.1% for Middle Eastern carriers.
Slipping down the rankings were North American carriers which reported 1.5% year-on-year fall in demand, something Walsh says needs to be watched.
