Full-year data puts airlines on track to exceed pre-Covid passenger traffic in 2024

Global airline passenger traffic was at 94.1% of 2019 levels in 2023, according to annual data from IATA, as an improving trend through most of the year put the industry within touching distance of pre-Covid demand. That assessment follows IATA’s projection in December last year that traffic measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) is expected to be 4.5% above 2019 levels in 2024, ending four years of lost growth amid the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. US domestic traffic was 3.3% up on 2019 levels in 2023 RPKs in the final quarter of 2023 were at 98.2% of 2019 levels, IATA said on 31 January, “reflecting the strong recovery towards the end of the year”. The 2023 traffic performance was up 36.9% year on year, the airline association adds. “The strong post-pandemic rebound continued in 2023… with a strong performance in quarter four teeing-up airlines for a return to normal growth patterns in 2024,” says IATA director general Willie Walsh. International traffic – which accounted for just over 60% of RPKs – was 11.4% down on 2019 levels in 2023, while domestic traffic – accounting for around 40% of RPKs – was up 3.9%.<br/>