IATA – Air Passenger Market Analysis, Nov 2023

In November, the global airline industry experienced a significant increase in air passenger traffic, with revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) growing by 29.7% compared to the previous year. This brings RPKs to within 0.9% of pre-pandemic levels. Despite a slightly slower growth rate compared to previous months, there was still a 0.6% month-on-month increase in RPKs. Available seat-kilometers (ASKs) also saw growth, rising by 28.6% year-on-year and reaching 98.2% of November 2019 levels. This indicates that capacity has almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels. The passenger load factor (PLF), which measures seat occupancy, has remained close to 2019 levels, with both international and domestic markets showing higher PLFs compared to the previous year and pre-Covid. Overall, there was a 0.7 percentage point improvement in load factor compared to the previous year and a 0.8 percentage point improvement from 2019, demonstrating strong demand for air travel. Despite a slight decline in domestic air ticket sales in November, international ticket sales remain positive and aligned with the stable trend observed throughout the year. Notably, North Atlantic international traffic remained unaffected by the volcanic eruption in Iceland and continued to surpass pre-pandemic levels. These findings indicate that the global airline industry is experiencing ongoing growth and recovery, with air travel demand showing resilience despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.