African airlines experienced the fastest gain of any area, with a spectacular 3.7% year-over-year surge in load factor in the international passenger market, reaching 72.3% in May 2024.
The load factor, which shows the proportion of an airline’s available seats that are occupied by customers, is a crucial performance indicator in the aviation sector.
This information comes from the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) recently published report on the demand for passengers worldwide in May 2024.
The analysis demonstrates that although seat occupancy rates on African airlines have improved significantly, they are still behind other regions: Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region increased by 0.6% to 81.6%, while airlines in Europe increased by 0.3% to 84.7%, Middle Eastern airlines increased by 0.5% to 80.7%, North American airlines decreased by 1.2% to 84.0%, and airlines in Latin America increased by 1.2% to 85.1%.
“The load factor of African airlines increased to 72.3% (+3.7ppt compared to May 2023). This was the quickest increase in load factor among all areas, albeit Africa continues to have the lowest total load factor,” the report stated.
The IATA research, which offers additional insight into the worldwide international passenger markets for airlines in May 2024, indicates that demand for African carriers increased by 14.1% on an annual basis. With a 27.0% increase, Asia-Pacific airlines took the lead, followed by European carriers with an 11.7% gain.
Demand for flights on Middle Eastern airlines increased by 9.7%, that of North American carriers by 8.1%, and that of Latin American carriers by 15.9%.
These numbers demonstrate how recovery and growth have varied geographically, illustrating the many dynamics and difficulties the world’s airline sector has encountered since the pandemic.
Further details
According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) May 2024 report on worldwide passenger demand, there has been a notable increase in airline capacity throughout several geographical areas.
In the aviation industry, capacity is the total number of seats that are available for customers on flights during a given time frame. It is a measure of an airline’s ability to accommodate travelers based on the size of its fleet, the number of its routes, and the frequency of its flights.
Asia-Pacific airlines led the way with a 26.0% year-over-year gain in capacity, according to the IATA study. Latin American airlines witnessed a 14.3% year-over-year increase in capacity after this.
Next with an 11.3% capacity increase year over year were European airlines. Middle Eastern airlines saw a 9.0% year-over-year rise in capacity, closely trailed by North American carriers’ 9.7% year-over-year gain.
Among the areas, African airlines experienced the least growth, with a capacity increase of 8.2% annually.
The comprehensive growth in airline capacity can be attributed to the substantial demand for air travel, as seen by the data highlighting the strong recovery and expansion efforts across different regions.
