According to the same source, on a global scale, air traffic has reached a total of 94.2% of the levels observed before the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the first half of 2023 experienced a 47.2% growth in total traffic compared to the corresponding period in the previous year, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

During this June, domestic traffic also witnessed a strong increase of 27.2% compared to the same month of 2022, surpassing June 2019 by 5.1%. Such data also show that over the first half of 2023, domestic demand grew by 33.3% compared to last year.

Meanwhile, international traffic saw a 33.7% surge compared to June 2022, showing strong growth. As a result, international revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) reached 88.2% of the levels recorded in June 2019.

In the first half of this year, international traffic showed a significant growth of 58.6% in comparison to 2022.

“The northern summer travel season started in June with double-digit demand growth and average load factors topping 84 per cent. Planes are full, which is good news for airlines, local economies, and travel and tourism-dependent jobs,” IATA’s Director General Willie Walsh pointed out in this regard.

Further data provided by IATA revealed that in June 2023, European carriers also recorded a 14% rise in traffic compared to 2022. IATA figures show that even capacity saw a growth of 12.6%, while the load factor improved by 1.1% points, reaching 87.8%.

Based on the report, North American carriers experienced an increase of 23.3% in June 2023 compared to the corresponding period in 2022. Capacity increased by 19.5%, and the load factor showed an increase, climbing by 2.7% points to reach the highest level among all regions at 90.2%.

According to IATA, the following airlines experienced the highest growth traffic during June 2023 based on region:

• Asia-Pacific airlines – (128.1%, capacity 115.6%)
• Latin American airlines – (25.8%, capacity 25.0%)
• African airlines – (34.7%, capacity 44.8%)
• Middle East airlines – (29.2%, capacity 25.9%)
• Indian Airlines – (14.8%)

However, in June, domestic traffic in Australia fell slightly by 1.7% compared to the same period a year ago. Thus, the Australian domestic market was the only one to see a year-on-year decline in traffic during that month. Despite this decline, overall traffic remained 3.9% higher than pre-pandemic levels, indicating a degree of recovery in the Australian domestic aviation sector.