Global Air Passenger Demand Continues to Rise; IATA Raises Capacity Fears

Total global air passenger demand has continued to rise, with latest monthly figures from The International Air Transport Association (IATA) detailing a 3.3% year-on-year increase in March.

Both domestic flight demand and international travel demand rose, the latter by almost 5% year-on-year.

The continued, rise, IATA said, shows the urgent need for capacity to meet demand.

IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, said: “Passenger demand grew by 3.3% year-on-year in March, a slight strengthening from the 2.7% growth reported for February. A capacity expansion of 5.3%, however, outpaced the demand expansion leading to a load factor decline from record highs to 80.7% systemwide. There remains a lot of speculation around the potential impacts of tariffs and other economic headwinds on travel.

“While the small decline in demand in North America needs to be watched carefully, March numbers continued to show a global pattern of growth for air travel. That means the challenges associated with accommodating more people who need to travel—specifically alleviating supply chain problems and ensuring sufficient airport and air traffic management capacity—remain urgent.”