October global air demand, as measured in revenue passenger kilometers, increased 6.6 percent year over year, three percentage points higher than the growth reported in September 2025, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers, was up 5.8 percent year over year. Total October load factor increased 0.7 percentage points compared with October 2024 to 84.6 percent.
October international demand continued to grow faster than domestic traffic. It increased 8.5 percent year over year, while domestic global demand was up 3.4 percent for the same period. International capacity increased 7.1 percent, while domestic capacity was up 3.6 percent. October domestic U.S. traffic growth increased 1.3 percent compared with October 2024, after declining in each of the prior two months.
The October international load factor increased 1.1 percent points to 84.6 percent compared with October 2024. Domestic load factor declined 0.1 percentage point to 84.6 percent.
"October was a strong month for air travel," IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement. "Of particular note is the 4.5 percent [year-over-year] international traffic growth for carriers based in North America, which comes after several months of basically flat performance. The trends for the rest of the year look encouraging: scheduled seat capacity in November is set to expand 3.6 percent and in December by 4.7 percent."
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The Middle East had the highest percentage October total demand increase of 10.5 percent year over year. Africa's capacity growth percentage was highest at 8.3 percent year over year, with the Middle East at 8.1 percent compared with October 2024. North American total air demand was up 2.5 percent year over year, with capacity up 3.6 percent. North America was the only region where load factor decreased for the month, by 1 percentage point to 82.9 percent.
Internationally, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East reported the highest October demand growth rates, at 10.9 percent and 10.7 percent, respectively, year over year. Asia-Pacific also led capacity rate increases, with a gain of 9.1 percent for the same period. Most regions reported nternational load factor gains, except for Latin America and the Caribbean, declining 0.8 percentage points to 84.6 percent, and North America, down 0.1 percentage points to 84.2 percent.
Brazil reported the highest October domestic traffic increase at 12.4 percent year over year. It also led capacity increases with a 10.5 percent jump for the period. Japan was the only domestic region to report a capacity decline of 0.6 percent compared with October 2024. Year-over-year load factor changes were more mixed. Three regions reported increases: Brazil (1.5 percentage points), China (0.9 percentage points) and Japan (4.1 percentage points). The other three declined: Australia (1.1 percentage points), India (0.7 percentage points) and the U.S. (1.5 percentage points).
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