Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), was up 6.1% year-on-year. The October load factor was 83.9% (+0.8ppt compared to October 2023).
International demand rose 9.5% compared to October 2023 and capacity was up 8.6% year-on-year and the load factor rose to 83.5% (+0.6ppt compared to October 2023).
While domestic demand rose 3.5% in comparison to October 2023 with capacity up 2.0% year-on-year and the load factor being 84.5% (+1.2ppt compared to October 2023).
“Continued strong and stable demand is good news, but just as important is the steady improvement in load factors. It shows what a great job the industry is doing in flying people more efficiently.
“Average seat factors have risen from around 67% in the 1990s to over 83% today. Politicians thinking of trying to tax passengers off planes to reduce emissions would do well to note this.
“Even if fewer people fly because taxes make it too expensive, it doesn’t automatically mean reduced emissions because the planes will still fly, just with fewer passengers. That would reverse decades hard won progress. We need to see the planes full to generate the economic and social benefits of travel with the most minimal emissions possible,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
