Air travel records strong demand growth in March 2023, says IATA

Air travel recorded a strong demand growth for March 2023, rising 52.4% in total traffic as measured in revenue passenger kilometres, or RPKs, compared with March 2022, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

“Domestic traffic for March rose 34.1% compared to the year-ago period. Total March 2023 domestic traffic was at 98.9% of the March 2019 level,” it said in a statement on 4th May.

It said international traffic climbed 68.9% versus March 2022, with all markets recording healthy growth, led once again by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region.

IATA said international RPKs reached 81.6% of March 2019 levels, while the load factor at 81.3% exceeded the March 2019 level by 10.1 percentage points.

IATA director general Willie Walsh said the calendar year first quarter ended on a strong note for air travel demand and domestic markets have been near their pre-pandemic levels for months. 

He said two key waypoints were topped for international travel, in that demand increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous month’s growth to reach 81.6% of pre-Covid-19 levels. 

“This was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s re-opening took hold and efficiency is improving as international load factors reached 81.3%,” he said.

Walsh added that even more importantly, ticket sales for both domestic and international travel gave every indication that strong growth would continue into the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season.

Meanwhile, IATA said Asia-Pacific airlines had a 283.1% increase in March 2023 traffic compared with March 2022, continuing the robust momentum since the lifting of travel restrictions in the region.

It added that capacity rose 161.5% and the load factor increased 26.8 percentage points to 84.5%, the second highest among the regions.