Total traffic in November 2023, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) increased 29.7% compared to November 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 99.1% of November 2019 levels, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
“We are inching ever closer to surpassing the 2019 peak year for air travel. Economic headwinds are not deterring people from taking to the skies. International travel is still 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels, but that gap is closing fast. While domestic markets have been above their pre-pandemic levels continuously since April,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general.
After releasing its November 2023 air travel performance data, the international body said the increase was due to a 26.4% rise in international traffic compared to November 2022.
The Asia-Pacific region continued to report the strongest year-on-year results of +63.8%, while all other regions showed improvements compared to the previous year. As such, November 2023 international RPKs reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels.
Domestic traffic for November 2023 was up 34.8% compared to November 2022 and 6.7% above the November 2019 level.
Growth was particularly strong in China of +272% as it recovered from Covid-19 travel restrictions that were still in place a year ago. U.S. domestic travel, benefiting from strong Thanksgiving vacation demand, reached a new high, expanding +9.1% over November 2019.
As such, Asia-Pacific airlines saw a 63.8% increase in November traffic compared to November 2022, which was the strongest year-over-year rate among the regions. Capacity increased 58.0% and the occupancy factor increased 2.9 percentage points to 82.6%.
Latin American airline traffic in November increased 20.0% compared to the same month in 2022. November capacity increased 17.7% and the occupancy factor increased 1.7 percentage points to 84.9%, the highest of any region.
European carrier traffic increased 14.8% compared to the same month in 2022. Capacity increased 15.2% and occupancy factor decreased 0.3 percentage points to 83.3%.
North American operators experienced a 14.3% increase in traffic in November compared to the 2022 period. Capacity increased 16.3% and occupancy factor fell 1.4 percentage points to 80.0%.
Source: Arecoa.com
