The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released data for May 2026 global passenger demand and African airlines bucked the global trend and saw an 8.9% year -on-year increase in demand faster than the 8.3% year -on-year capacity expansion to achieve a 73.7% average passenger load factor (percentage of the available seats taken up by the market) which was 0.4 percentage points higher.
“Air passenger demand was down 2.2% year-on-year in May on the impact of war in the Middle East. The decline was centered on carriers in the Middle East with a 28.4% year-on-year fall. That’s a significant improvement on the 46.6% decline recorded for April, a sign of the region’s resilience. Notably, we also saw year-on-year contractions in demand in both North America and Asia, largely related to domestic market conditions in the US and China.
Overall, May demand still appeared to be largely resilient in the face of high fuel prices and air fares. While the recent sharp drop in oil prices is an encouraging development, the challenges created by the war will likely persist for some time. Oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz remains uncertain and it is likely to take time before the benefit of lower oil prices is reflected in ‘normalized’ jet fuel pricing. In the meantime, airlines who are operating on a 2.0% margin will have little choice but to continue testing demand resilience with higher fares that attempt to cover elevated fuel costs,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents over 370 airlines accounting for some 85% of global air traffic.
