Total global November 2023 air traffic nearly reached
November 2019 levels, while domestic demand continued to outperform
pre-pandemic levels, and international traffic continued its recovery,
according to the latest report from the International Air Transport
Association.
November global demand was up 29.7 percent year over year,
reaching 99.1 percent of November 2019 levels. Capacity for the month was up
28.6 percent compared with a year prior and was 1.8 percent shy of November
2019 levels.
Domestic traffic for November was up 34.8 percent versus
November 2022, representing a 6.7 percent increase over the November 2019
level. Domestic capacity was up 32.5 percent year over year and up 6.4 percent
from pre-pandemic levels. International demand increased 26.4 percent compared
with a year prior, representing 94.5 percent of November 2019 levels.
International capacity was up 26 percent year over year, but still lagged
November 2019 by 6.8 percent.
"We are moving ever closer to surpassing the 2019 peak
year for air travel," IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a
statement. "Economic headwinds are not deterring people from taking to the
skies. International travel remains 5.5 percent below pre-pandemic levels, but
that gap is rapidly closing. And domestic markets have been above their
pre-pandemic levels continuously since April."
[Report continues below chart.]
Domestic November demand showed triple-digit growth again
for China as it recovered from the Covid-19 travel restrictions still in place
a year ago, according to IATA. Traffic for the country was 10.9 percent above
November 2019 levels. U.S. domestic travel benefitted from the strong
Thanksgiving holiday, with its traffic reaching a new high and increasing 9.1
percent above November 2019 levels.
International November traffic was led by Asia-Pacific for
both demand and capacity growth year over year, though it remains 17 percent
and 19.6 percent, respectively, below pre-pandemic levels. Africa and Europe also saw demand still below
November 2019 metrics, while the Middle East was up 1.2 percent, Latin America
was up 2 percent, and North America reported an increase of 7.4 percent for the
same period.
"Aviation's rapid recovery from Covid demonstrates just
how important flying is to people and to businesses," Walsh said. "In
parallel to aviation's recovery, governments recognized the urgency of
transitioning from jet fuel to sustainable aviation fuel for aviation's
decarbonization. … 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."
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