Page 14 - TBM_February_2024

TRAVEL MONITOR
14 TRAVELBIZ MONITOR FEBRUARY, 2024
n

IATA’s Air Passenger Market Analysis

2023 was marked by strong industry-wide recovery

The global air passenger market recorded 25.3% YoY growth in December with global passenger load factor at 82.3%,
a little less than 2019 levels, as per the International Air Transport Association (IATA). TravelBiz Monitor presents
highlights of the analysis.

2023 was marked by strong industry-wide recovery international RPKs increased 41.6% YoY and totaled 88.6% of pre-Covid
Strong demand for air travel continued to propel the recovery of levels. Although airlines across the globe saw various outcomes, all
passenger markets in 2023. The total industry achieved a remarkable regions contributed to those developments by achieving resilient
36.9% year-on-year (YoY) growth, as traffic, measured in revenue growth in international passenger traffic. Asia Pacific airlines more than
passenger-kilometer (RPKs), reached 94.1% of 2019 levels, a significant doubled their RPKs, growing 126.1% compared to 2022, overcoming
increase from 2022 when it stood at 68.7%. The supply of seats slightly a large part of the setback caused by past strict travel restrictions,
exceeded the demand for travel compared to 2019 (pre-pandemic), however, they remained 27.3% under pre-pandemic levels. On the other
resulting in an industry-wide load factor of 82.3%, which was only 0.3 ppt hand, North American carriers have surpassed their 2019 record by 1.4%,
lower than the load factor in 2019. leading the regions in terms of international recovery.
Domestic traffic set new highs in 2023, most of the monitored While the airline industry had recovered the majority of its traffic
markets surpassed the pre-pandemic levels by mid-2023. The definitive 2019 levels as of December 2023, network restoration remained relatively
reopening of China in January 2023 shaped the industry’s recovery uneven as connectivity and passenger demand to and from Asia Pacific
profile as total domestic RPKs remained largely above pre-pandemic has not yet reached its pre-pandemic status.
levels for most of the year reflecting the buoyant activity this major Industry-wide growth was resilient in December…
market has observed (Error! Reference source not found.). In 2023, total Air passenger traffic, measured in RPKs, increased 25.3% YoY in
domestic RPKs grew 30.4% YoY and stood 3.9% over 2019 levels. December. Compared to the same month in 2019, traffic levels in 2023
On the other hand, international traffic remained lower than its levels were 2.5% lower. In seasonally adjusted terms, RPKs grew 1.3% month-
of 2019 while maintaining a stable yet robust growth pace. Industry-wide on-month (MoM) aligning with the pace the industry saw over the past
year, thus demonstrating the ongoing positive trend (Chart 2).
Industry seat capacity, measured in ASKs, grew by 24.1% compared
to December 2022 and reached 97.5% of pre-pandemic levels. Passenger
load factors (PLF) remained in the vicinity of 2019 levels (Chart 3).
Industry-wide seat occupation was 0.8 ppt superior to the previous year
and in line with the December 2019 number.
The same observation applied to most regions, showing the
alignment between demand for air travel and airline seat capacity
globally. Asia Pacific and North American carriers saw slightly lower
load factors compared to the same month in 2019, a result driven by
seat supply outpacing passenger numbers in China and US domestic
markets respectively. Europe led among the regions, exceeding
December 2019 PLF by 2.1ppt as RPKs surpassed the pre-pandemic
threshold by 2.0%, for the first time since 2020 (Chart 3)
. …while total domestic traffic expansion continued globally and
most markets
Total domestic RPKs grew 27.0% YoY while maintaining a strong
positive course in seasonally adjusted terms. RPKs were 2.3% above
pre-pandemic levels, a lower result compared to the level observed in
November 2023 that reflects the latest traffic numbers in US (Chart 4).
US domestic traffic increased 9.6% YoY and 0.4% over December
2019 RPKs. This is a large variation in perspective to the last months,

WWW.TRAVELBIZMONITOR.COM