IATA: Global international traffic virtually unchanged in Oct-2020, Africa posts best recovery

IATA reported (08-Dec-2020) the following international passenger traffic highlights for Oct-2020:

• Global: Demand (RPKs) down 87.8% year-on-year, virtually unchanged from Sep-2020. Capacity (ASKs) was down 76.9% and load factor shrank 38.3 pp to 42.9%;
• Asia Pacific: Demand collapsed 95.6%, unchanged from Sep-2020. The region continued to suffer from the steepest traffic declines. Capacity plummeted 88.5% and load factor sagged 49.4 pp to 30.3%, the lowest among regions;
• Europe: Demand down 83.0%, a worsening from the 81.2% decline in Sep-2020. For a second consecutive month, Europe was the only region to see a month to month deterioration in traffic. Capacity contracted 70.4% and load factor fell by 36.7pp to 49.5%;
• Middle East: 86.7% traffic drop for Oct-2020, improved from an 89.3% demand drop in Sep-2020. Capacity dived 73.6%, and load factor declined 36.6pp to 37.0%;
• North America: Demand down 88.2% in Oct-2020, a slight improvement from a 91.0% decline in Sep-2020. Capacity plunged 73.1%, and load factor dropped 46.2pp to 36.2%;
• Latin America: 86.0% demand drop in Oct-2020. The region showed the greatest improvement on Sep-2020 when year-on-year demand was down 92.3%. Oct-2020 capacity was 80.3% down and load factor dropped 23.5pp to 57.7%, which was highest among the regions;
• Africa: Demand down 78.6%, improved from an 84.9% drop in Sep-2020 and the best performance among the regions. Capacity contracted 67.5%, and load factor fell 23.8pp to 45.5%. [more - original PR]