TBM Staff - Mumbai
IATA Director General Willie Walsh expressed optimism about the aviation industry’s performance in 2024, citing strong passenger traffic growth across all regions except North America in February. He emphasised airlines’ accelerated investments in decarbonisation and highlighted the resilience of passenger demand amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties.
Walsh cautioned against imposing new taxes that could disrupt the industry’s positive trajectory and increase travel costs, particularly criticising proposed tax measures in Europe as potentially harmful to the region’s economic recovery.
In terms of regional performance, Asia-Pacific led with the highest year-over-year growth in passenger traffic at 37.8%, followed by Africa (22.5%), the Middle East (19.7%), Europe (14.8%), Latin America (13.0%), and North America (8.9%). Despite experiencing the highest capacity growth at 30.1%, Asia-Pacific also achieved the highest passenger load factor at 84.4%, indicating strong demand.
Other regions also saw robust load factors, with Latin America (82.7%), the Middle East (80.8%), North America (79.5%), Europe (76.1%), and Africa (74.4%) all performing well.
A notable trend highlighted in the report is the reversal of fortunes between Asia-Pacific and North America, with Asia-Pacific emerging as the fastest-growing region after experiencing prolonged pandemic-related restrictions. China’s rapid return to global aviation played a significant role in driving this growth, with domestic demand in China particularly strong, growing by 35.1% year-over-year in February 2024.
In addition to China, countries like Japan, India, and Australia also witnessed significant growth in domestic demand, indicating a potential shift in travel patterns towards domestic tourism. Despite more modest growth, domestic demand in the US and Brazil also exceeded pre-pandemic levels, reflecting overall positive momentum in the aviation sector.
