THUR, NOV 09 2023-theGBJournal| African airlines posted a 28.1% traffic increase in September 2023 versus a year ago, according to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) in its latest Air Passenger Market Analysis.
Capacity was also up 29.9% and load factor slipped 1.0 percentage points to 72.6%.
According to IATA, African airlines as well as the Middle Eastern carriers experienced robust growth in their international passenger traffic, with their revenue passenger-kilometers (RPKs) increasing 28.1% and 26.6% above September 2022 levels, respectively.
”Both regions outperformed their pre-pandemic PLFs,” IATA noted.
Meanwhile, Total global traffic in September 2023 measured in RPKs rose 30.1% compared to September 2022.
”Globally, traffic is now at 97.3% of pre-COVID levels,” IATA said.
Domestic traffic also hit a new high for the month under review, as traffic rose 28.3% versus September 2022 and exceeded the September 2019 level by 5.0%.
International traffic climbed 31.2% compared to the same month a year ago. All markets saw double-digit percentage gains year on year. International RPKs reached 93.1% of September 2019 levels.
“The third quarter of 2023 ended on a high note, with record domestic passenger demand for the month of September and continued strong international traffic,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Walsh said there is every reason to believe that this momentum can be maintained in the New Year, despite economic and political uncertainties in parts of the world.
”But we need the whole value chain to be ready. Supply chain issues in the aircraft manufacturing sector are unacceptable. They have held back the recovery and solutions must be found.”
He added that the same holds true for infrastructure providers, particularly air navigation service providers.
”Equipment failures, staffing shortages and labor unrest made it impossible to deliver the flying experience our customers expect. A successful 2024 needs the whole value chain to be fully prepared to handle the demand that is coming,” said Walsh.
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