According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), air travel demand topped 99% of 2019 levels in November 2023.
The total traffic in November 2023 was measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs). It rose 29.7% compared to November 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 99.1% of November 2019 levels. International traffic rose 26.4% versus November 2022. The Asia-Pacific region continued to report the strongest year-on-year results (+63.8%) with all regions showing improvement over the previous year. In November 2023, international RPKs reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels.
Domestic traffic for November 2023 was up 34.8% compared to November 2022. The total domestic traffic in November 2023 was 6.7% above the November 2019 level. Growth was particularly strong in China (+272%) on its recovery from the Covid-19 travel restrictions that were still in place a year ago. US domestic travel, benefitting from strong Thanksgiving holiday demand, reached a new high, expanding +9.1% over November 2019.
“We are moving ever closer to surpassing the 2019 peak year for air travel,” commented Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general. “Economic headwinds are not deterring people from taking to the skies. International travel remains 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels but that gap is rapidly closing. And domestic markets have been above their pre-pandemic levels continuously since April.”
Walsh continued, “Aviation’s rapid recovery from Covid-19 demonstrates just how important flying is to people and to businesses. In parallel to aviation’s recovery, governments recognized the urgency of transitioning from jet fuel to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for aviation’s decarbonization. The Third Conference on Aviation Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) in November saw governments agree that we should see 5% carbon savings by 2030 from SAF. This was followed up at COP28 in December where governments agreed that we need a broad transition from fossil fuels to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Airlines don’t need convincing. They agreed to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and every drop of SAF ever made in that effort has been bought and used. There simply is not enough SAF being produced. So we look to 2024 to be the year when governments follow up on their own declarations and finally deliver comprehensive policy measures to incentivize the rapid scaling-up of SAF production.”
Read more of the latest Covid-19 updates from the passenger terminal industry, here.