Willie Walsh, IATA DG, says passenger demand hit an all-time high for the aviation industry in July, in all regions except Africa, despite the disruption caused by the CrowdStrike IT outage.

African airlines saw a 7.4% y-o-y increase in demand. Capacity was up 6.7% y-o-y, and the load factor rose to 74.3% (a 0.5 percentage point increase over July 2023).

Global airlines’ total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, was up 8% compared with July 2023. Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, was up 7.4% y-o-y.

The July load factor was 86% (a 0.5 percentage point increase compared with July 2023).

“July was another positive month. The winding down of the peak northern summer season is a reminder of how much people depend on flying…Load factors are at the practicable maximum. However persistent supply chain bottlenecks have made deploying the capacity to meet the need to travel more challenging. As much of the world returns from vacation, there is an urgent call for manufacturers and suppliers to resolve their supply chain issues so that air travel remains accessible and affordable to all those who rely on it,” said Walsh.