IATA: 29.2% increase in travel by airlines in the Middle East

Geneva on August 12th

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) confirmed the continued recovery of the air travel sector last June, with travel traffic increasing by 31% compared to June 2022.
The union said in a recent report today that all markets showed strong growth, and that the proportion of total passenger traffic reached 88.2% of June 2019 levels.
Airlines in the Middle East recorded a 29.2% increase in travel traffic last June compared to June last year, capacity increased by 25.9%, and load factor increased 2.0 percentage points to 79.8%.
Willie Walsh, Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said: “The northern hemisphere summer travel season got off to a strong start in June with demand growth doubling and average load factor exceeding 84%, which is gratifying for airlines and local economies, as it is. The same applies to jobs that depend on travel and tourism, which means that the continued recovery of the industry is beneficial for everyone.”
Airlines in Asia and the Pacific achieved a 128.1% increase in passenger traffic in June 2023 compared to June 2022, which is the strongest annual rate among regions, capacity increased by 115.6%, load factor increased by 4.6 percentage points to 82.9%, while it recorded European airlines increased passenger traffic by 14% compared to June 2022, capacity increased by 12.6%, while load factor rose 1.1 percentage points to 87.8%, the second highest rate among regions.
North American airlines saw passenger traffic rise by 23.3% in June 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, capacity increased by 19.5%, and load factor 2.7 percentage points to 90.2%, the highest rate among regions. Latin America Passenger traffic increased in June 2023 by 25.8% compared to the same month in 2022. Capacity for June increased by 25.0%, and load factor increased by 0.6 percentage points to 84.8%.
African airlines recorded an increase in passenger traffic by 34.7% in June 2023 compared to June last year, which is the second highest increase among regions. Capacity increased in June by 44.8%, while load factor decreased by 5.1 percentage points to 68.1%, which is lowest level among regions.

Africa was the only region to see a decrease in load factor compared to the same period last year.