IATA: Domestic travel now recovered, upward international trends, but hurdles still remain

The International Air Transport Association (IATA), has brought leaders of the global aviation industry together in Istanbul, Türkiye, for the 79th IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) and World Air Transport Summit.

IATA has announced continued strong passenger traffic demand in Apr-2023. Total traffic in the month (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 45.8% compared to Apr-2022. Globally, traffic is now at 90.5% of pre-COVID levels. At 81.3%, industry load factor was only 1.8 percentage points below pre-pandemic level.

However, pre-COVID problems such as blocked airline funds continue to threaten connectivity with Nigeria, Bangladesh, Algeria, Pakistan and Lebanon the biggest culprits.

Meanwhile, a new analysis shows that reported unruly passenger incidents increased in 2022 compared to 2021.