By Chinelo Obogo
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said that African airlines saw a 26.1 per cent traffic increase in August 2023 versus a year ago. August capacity was up 25.5per cent and load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 76.2per cent.
Asia-Pacific airlines saw a 98.5 per cent increase in August 2023 traffic compared to August 2022, continuing to lead the regions. Capacity climbed 85.5 per cent and the load factor increased by 5.5 percentage points to 84.2 per cent while European carriers’ August traffic rose 13.6per cent versus August 2022. Capacity increased 12.3per cent, and load factor edged up 1.1 percentage points to 86.8 per cent.
Middle Eastern airlines posted a 27.3per cent increase in August traffic compared to a year ago. Capacity rose 22.7 per cent and load factor climbed 3.0 percentage points to 83.1 per cent while North American carriers had an 18.6% traffic rise in August 2023 versus the 2022 period. Capacity increased 17.5 per cent, and load factor improved 0.8 percentage points to 87.7 per cent, which was the highest among the regions for a third consecutive month. Latin American airlines’ traffic rose 26.4 per cent compared to the same month in 2022. August capacity climbed 23.8 per cent and load factor rose 1.7 percentage points to 86.1 per cent.
Reacting to the report, IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, said; “Demand for air travel performed well in August. For the year to date, international traffic has increased by 50 per cent versus last year and ticket sales data show international bookings strengthening for travel in the last part of the year. Heading into the last quarter of the year, the airline industry is nearly fully recovered to 2019 levels of demand.