International air traffic is back to 94.1pc of pre-pandemic levels, according to aviation industry body IATA. But when international aviation is stripped out, the figure is just 88.6pc.
The Geneva based organisation reported that total air traffic in 2023 increased by 36.9pc compared to 2022, international traffic rose by 41.6pc, and domestic traffic in 2023 increased by 30.4pc compared to the previous year and was 3.9pc above 2019 levels.
European carriers’ full year traffic climbed 22.0pc versus 2022. Capacity increased 17.5pc, and load factor rose 3.1 percentage points to 83.8pc. For December, demand climbed 13.6pc compared to the same month in 2022. December traffic was higher than the corresponding month in 2019 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.
Willie Walsh, the Glasnevin born director of IATA said: “the recovery in travel is good news. The restoration of connectivity is powering the global economy as people travel to do business, further their educations, take hard-earned vacations and much more. But to maximize the benefits of air travel in the post-pandemic world, governments need to take a strategic approach. That means providing cost-efficient infrastructure to meet demand, incentivizing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production to meet our net zero carbon emission goal by 2050.”
