IATA: 2024 Off to Strong Start, Passenger Demand Up 16.6% in January

Global passenger demand is indicating a strong start for the year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Wednesday.

Presenting data for January, IATA said total demand was up 16.6 percent while total capacity rose 14.1 percent. The load factor was 79.9 percent (+1.7 percent).

International demand rose 20.8%; capacity was up 20.9% and the load factor remained at 79.7% (+0.0pt)

Regarding international passenger markets, Asia-Pacific airlines saw the largest increase in January traffic at 45.4% compared to the same month in 2023. Capacity climbed 48.1% and the load factor fell by 1.5 percentage points to 82.6%.

According to IATA, the exceptionally strong growth rate is largely attributable to China which was in the early stages of lifting COVID-19 travel restrictions in January 2023.

European carriers’ January 2024 traffic rose 10.8% versus January 2023 with capacity up by 10.7%, and the load factor edged up 0.1 percentage points to 77.3%.

IATA said routes between Europe and North America have rebounded particularly strongly from the pandemic and stand 6.5% higher than in January 2020.

Moreover, North American carriers had a 12.3% traffic rise in January 2024 versus the 2023 period. Capacity also increased 13.7%, and load factor fell 1.0 percentage point to 79.4%.

For the month of January domestic demand rose 10.4%; capacity was up 4.6% and the load factor was 80.2% (+4.2pt).

Domestic demand growth continues to be led by China, which saw strong demand for Lunar New Year travel. This is likely to have boosted traffic in February also. Chinese carriers have responded by increasing capacity, particularly by deploying wide-body jets.

Walsh: Governments must see aviation as catalyst for growth

IATA Director General Willie Walsh. Photo source: IATA

“2024 is off to a strong start despite economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.

According to Walsh, it is critical that governments see aviation as a catalyst for growth as “they look to build prosperity in their economies” in the busiest election-year ever.

“Increased taxes and onerous regulation are a counterweight to prosperity. We will be looking to governments for policies that help aviation to reduce costs, improve efficiency and make progress towards net zero CO2 emissions by 2050,” he said.