Global air passenger traffic rose 8% year on year in July, marginally ahead of a 7.4% capacity increase, according to Iata, but the airline association has warned of growing constraints on capacity due to problems in the supply chain.
Willie Walsh, Iata director general, issued an “urgent call” for aircraft manufacturers and suppliers to resolve the issues.
Boeing continues to suffer significant manufacturing delays amid action by the US Federal Aviation Administration to address safety concerns, while engine problems on a version of the latest Airbus A320 have led to many aircraft being grounded for lengthy periods.
Iata reported member airlines’ average load factor rose half a percentage point on July 2023 to 86%, and said the CrowdStrike IT outage on July 19 which disrupted technology systems worldwide had “no significant demand impact”.
International demand rose 10% year on year in July, slightly below an increase in capacity of 10.5%, leading to a small decline in average load factor to just below 86%.
Domestic air traffic demand, which is strongest in the US, China, India and Brazil, rose almost 5% on July 2023, two percentage points ahead of a 2.8% increase in capacity.
Iata director general Willie Walsh noted July “was another positive month”, saying: “Passenger demand hit an all-time high for the industry and in all regions except Africa, despite significant disruption caused by the IT outage.”
However, Walsh warned: “Load factors are at the practicable maximum. Persistent supply chain bottlenecks have made deploying the capacity to meet the need to travel more challenging.
“There is an urgent call for manufacturers and suppliers to resolve their supply chain issues.”
The association reported all regions showed “strong growth” for international passengers “with signs many markets are returning to long-term growth trends”.
Growth in the Asia-Pacific region remained strong at 19% year on year, but behind a capacity increase of just over 20%, and Iata noted most Asia routes have yet to exceed 2019 levels.
European carriers saw an 8% rise in demand year on year on a par with the increase in capacity.
Carriers in the Middle East saw a near 6% year-on-year increase in demand, just ahead of a 5.5% increase in capacity.
However, North American airlines increased overall capacity by 6.3% on July 2023 and saw growth in demand fall a percentage point at 5.3%.
There was a 13% rise in demand in Latin America, where capacity increased by almost 16%, and growth in demand in excess of 7% in Africa, 0.7 percentage points ahead of the capacity increase.
Iata reported domestic demand showed “solid growth in all key markets bar India”.