The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for April 2019 showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 4.3% compared to April 2018. April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 3.6%, and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage point to 82.8%, which was a record for the month of April, surpassing last year’s record of 82.2%. Regionally, Africa, Europe and Latin America posted record load factors.
Comparisons between the two months are distorted owing to the timing of the Easter holiday, which occurred on 1 April in 2018 but fell much later in the month in 2019.
April international passenger demand rose 5.1% compared to April 2018. All regions recorded year-over-year traffic increases, led by airlines in Europe. Total capacity climbed 3.8%, and load factor climbed 1.1 percentage points to 82.5%.
European airlines’ April traffic increased 8.0% compared to the year-ago period, up from 4.9% annual growth in March. Capacity rose 6.6% and load factor surged 1.1 percentage points to 85.7%, highest among the regions.
Asia-Pacific carriers posted a 2.9% traffic rise in April, up from 2% growth in March but well below the long-term average. Capacity climbed 3.7% and load factor dropped 0.6 percentage point to 80.8%. Asia-Pacific was the only region to experience a decline in load factor compared to the same month a year ago.
Middle East carriers saw demand rise 2.9% in April, which was a recovery from a 3.0% decline in traffic in March. Capacity fell 1.6% and load factor soared 3.5 percentage points to 80.5%.
North American airlines posted a 5.5% demand increase compared to April 2018, which was up from 3.2% year-over-year growth in March. Capacity climbed 3.2%, and load factor rose 1.8 percentage points to 82.2%.
Latin American airlines experienced a 5.2% rise in April demand compared to the same month last year, slightly up on 4.9% growth in March. Capacity increased by 4.0% and load factor edged up 0.9 percentage point to 82.8%.
African airlines had a 1.1% traffic increase in April, which was down from 1.6% growth in March and was the slowest regional growth since early 2015. Capacity climbed 0.1%, and load factor edged up 0.7 percentage point to 72.6%.
Demand for domestic travel climbed 2.8% in April compared to April 2018, down from 4.1% growth in March year-over-year. The slowing trend is being driven primarily by developments in China and India. Capacity increased 3.2%, and load factor slid 0.3 percentage point to 83.2%.
