Global air passenger demand increased by 6.1% in February 2026, with record load factors and strong growth across international and domestic markets, led by Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions.
Publish Time：
2026-04-02 11:18:20
Source：
Travel Daily News
Global air passenger demand increased by 6.1% in February 2026, with record load factors and strong growth across international and domestic markets, led by Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions.
GENEVA – The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported a 6.1% year-on-year increase in global air passenger demand for February 2026, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK).
Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), rose by 5.6% compared to February 2025, while the global load factor reached 81.4%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points and the highest level recorded for February.
| Air passenger market in detail – February 2026 | |||||||||||||
| World | February 2026 (year-on-year, %) | ||||||||||||
| share, %1 | RPK | ASK | PLF (%-pt) | PLF (level) | |||||||||
| TOTAL MARKET | 100.0 | 6.1 | 5.6 | 0.3 | 81.4 | ||||||||
| Africa | 2.2 | 11.9 | 13.1 | -0.8 | 75.0 | ||||||||
| Asia Pacific | 34.5 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 0.1 | 85.5 | ||||||||
| Europe | 26.6 | 4.9 | 4.3 | 0.4 | 76.9 | ||||||||
| Latin America and Caribbean | 5.4 | 9.2 | 6.2 | 2.3 | 84.0 | ||||||||
| Middle East | 9.5 | 0.8 | 3.9 | -2.5 | 79.5 | ||||||||
| North America | 21.8 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 80.3 | ||||||||
1 % of industry RPK in 2025
International demand grew by 5.9% year-on-year, with capacity increasing by 5.3%. The international load factor reached 80.5%, up 0.5 percentage points. Domestic markets recorded a 6.3% increase in demand, with capacity up 6.2% and load factor at 82.8%, reflecting stable performance.
“With an RPK expansion of 6.1%, February was a strong month, showing that the fundamentals for demand growth were in place for a positive year. However, without knowing the length and intensity of the war in the Middle East, it is impossible to quantify the full impact that it will have on airline prospects. But some things are already clear. Fuel costs have risen sharply. With tight capacity and thin margins, air fares are already rising. Capacity deployment is also adjusting, particularly for traffic to, from, or through the Middle East, or in areas where fuel supply is an issue. Capacity growth scheduled for March, for example, has eased to 3.3% from earlier predictions of more than 5%,” said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA.
| World | February 2026 (year-on-year, %) | ||||||
| share, %1 | RPK | ASK | PLF (%-pt) | PLF (level) | |||
| Domestic | 37.2 | 6.3 | 6.2 | 0.1 | 82.8 | ||
| Dom. Australia | 0.8 | -1.1 | 3.8 | -3.4 | 69.2 | ||
| Dom. Brazil | 1.2 | 12.6 | 9.8 | 2.0 | 82.3 | ||
| Dom. China P.R. | 11.3 | 12.5 | 13.4 | -0.7 | 85.9 | ||
| Dom. India | 1.7 | 0.6 | 1.9 | -1.2 | 89.1 | ||
| Dom. Japan | 1.0 | 0.8 | -0.8 | 1.4 | 84.9 | ||
| Dom. United States | 13.6 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 79.6 | ||
| 1 % of industry RPK in 2025 | |||||||
| Note: the six domestic passenger markets for which broken-down data are available account for approximately 29.6% of total global RPKs and 79.4% of total domestic RPKs | |||||||
Traffic between Europe and Asia showed particularly strong performance, increasing by approximately 14%, supported by seasonal demand linked to the Lunar New Year. Domestic markets were driven by strong demand in countries such as Brazil and China, contributing to overall growth.
