Global air travel demand continued to grow in 2025, but capacity constraints remain a defining feature of the market, according to IATA’s latest passenger traffic figures.
For the full year 2025, total market demand measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose by 5.3% year-on-year, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 5.2%. The global load factor edged up 0.1 percentage points to 83.6%.
December results reflected similar trends. Worldwide demand rose 5.6% compared with December 2024, slightly behind capacity growth of 5.9%, pushing the load factor down marginally by 0.2 points to 83.7%.
Regional performance remained uneven. Asia-Pacific airlines recorded the strongest annual growth, with full-year traffic rising 7.8% and capacity up 6.5%, lifting the load factor by 1.0 percentage point to 84.2%. Europe followed with a 5.3% rise in traffic and a load factor of 84.8%. Middle Eastern carriers saw demand increase 6.8% for the year, with capacity up 5.9%, improving load factors to 81.5%.
Africa posted one of the fastest growth rates, with full-year traffic up 9.4% and capacity rising 8.3%. Its load factor climbed 0.7 percentage points to 75.3%, still the lowest of any region but a record high for African carriers. Latin America and the Caribbean reported traffic growth of 7.0%, though capacity rose faster at 7.4%, leading to a 0.4-point decline in load factor to 83.4%.
North America remained the slowest-growing region. Full-year traffic rose just 0.4%, while capacity expanded 2.0%, resulting in a 1.3-point fall in load factor to 82.9%.
International travel continued to outpace domestic markets. Full-year international traffic increased 7.1% compared with 2024, while capacity rose 6.8%. December international demand grew 7.7%, with capacity up 7.9%, trimming the load factor slightly to 83.9%.
Asia-Pacific led international markets, posting a 10.9% rise in annual traffic and the highest load factor at 84.4%. Europe’s international traffic grew 6.0% for the year, while Middle Eastern carriers saw a 6.7% increase. Latin American airlines recorded 8.6% growth but also the sharpest fall in load factor, down 1.2 points to 83.6%. African carriers achieved a 7.8% increase in international traffic and the strongest load factor improvement, up 0.9 points to 74.9%.
Domestic markets reached record passenger numbers and load factors, although growth slowed compared with the post-pandemic rebound in 2024. Overall domestic demand rose 2.4% for the year, with capacity up 2.5%, leaving the load factor broadly stable at 83.7%.
Brazil was the standout domestic performer, with demand up 11.1% year-on-year. China’s domestic market grew 4.7%, while India recorded 5.2% growth despite a 1.2-point fall in load factor. Japan posted a 3.4-point rise in load factor, the strongest improvement among major domestic markets. By contrast, the US domestic market contracted by 0.6% for the year and saw the largest load factor decline, down 1.9 points.
The figures underline the continued strength of passenger demand in 2025, even as capacity growth remains constrained across key regions.