The International Air Transport Association's (IATA) passenger traffic figures for November 2022 reveal signs of a more positive trajectory in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. Middle Eastern carriers experienced an 84.6% growth in traffic in November compared to the same period in 2021 falling short of a little over 18% as compared to November 2019.
On the other hand, Asia-Pacific airlines had a 373.9% rise in November traffic compared to November 2021, which was the strongest year-over-year rate among the regions with international revenue passenger kilometre (RPKs) reaching 73.7% of November 2019 levels.
The most significant contributor to the domestic numbers was Australia, with an approximate increase of 190.0% compared to November 2021. Domestic aviation within Japan followed behind with a rise of 37.3% compared to the previous year. Overall, the total November 2022 global domestic traffic was at 77.7% of the November 2019 level.
The report showed African airlines had an 83.5% rise in November RPKs versus a year ago and just 20.0% short of November 2019 figures. November 2022 capacity was up 48.4% and load factor climbed 14.2% points to 74.3%, the lowest among regions.
Global air travel recovery also continued throughout the month, IATA revealed.
International traffic rose 85.2% as against November 2021, with the Asia-Pacific continuing to report the strongest year-over-year results with all regions showing improvement compared to the prior year.