IATA: Air Travel Reaches 99% of 2019 Levels

DALLAS — The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for November 2023 air travel performance, revealing that air travel demand has reached 99% of 2019 levels. Here are the key findings:

Global Air Travel Performance

• Total air travel traffic in November 2023, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), increased by 29.7% compared to November 2022.
• Globally, air travel traffic in November 2023 reached 99.1% of November 2019 levels.

International Air Travel

• International air travel in November 2023 rose by 26.4% compared to November 2022.
• The Asia-Pacific region reported the strongest year-over-year growth in international air travel, with a remarkable increase of 63.8%.
• International air travel in November 2023 reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels.

Domestic Air Travel

• Domestic air travel in November 2023 increased by 34.8% compared to November 2022.
• China experienced significant growth in domestic air travel, with a remarkable increase of 272% as it recovered from COVID-19 travel restrictions that were in place a year ago.
• Domestic air travel in the US also saw strong growth, reaching a new high with a 9.1% expansion over November 2019, with strong demand during the Thanksgiving holidays as the main driver.

Outlook and Remarks

• Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, stated that air travel is moving closer to surpassing the peak year of 2019, with economic headwinds not deterring people from flying.
• International air travel is still 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels, but the gap is rapidly closing.
• Domestic air travel has consistently been above pre-pandemic levels since April 2023.

Further Comments from IATA's Director General

According to Willie Walsh, the Director General of IATA, the rapid recovery of the aviation industry from the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of flying for both individuals and businesses. As aviation recovers, governments have recognized the need to transition from traditional jet fuel to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to reduce carbon emissions.

The Director General mentioned that, at the Third Conference on Aviation Alternative Fuels (CAAF/3) in November, governments agreed on the target of achieving 5% carbon savings by 2030 through the use of SAF. This commitment was further reinforced at COP28 in December, where governments agreed on the necessity of transitioning away from fossil fuels to mitigate the severe impacts of climate change.

Airlines are fully committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and have already been actively purchasing and using every available drop of SAF, said Walsh. However, the current production of SAF is insufficient to meet demand. Therefore, in 2024, the head of IATA expects that governments will take concrete actions and implement comprehensive policy measures to incentivize and facilitate the rapid scaling-up of SAF production.

Featured image: World-class airline aircraft taxi. Photo: Johann Heske/Airways