IATA: Global air travel demand kept growing in July, but seat load factor declined

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Global demand for passenger and cargo air transport continued to rise in July 2025, driven by the peak summer season in the Northern Hemisphere. However, capacity expansion outpaced passenger traffic growth, leading to a slight drop in the load factor, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its latest report.

Overall passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK), grew by 4.0% compared to July 2024. At the same time, total available seat kilometers (ASK) increased by 4.4%, pushing the average seat load factor down by 0.4 percentage points to 85.5%.

The main driver was international traffic, which rose 5.3% year-on-year, accelerating from 3.9% in June. Domestic markets showed a more moderate gain of 1.9%.

“Northern Hemisphere summer was favorable for airlines. Peak-season demand growth accelerated to 4% in July,” said IATA Director General Willie Walsh, adding that preliminary September data also indicates continued positive momentum.

The strongest passenger traffic growth was recorded in Latin America (+7.2%), followed by Asia-Pacific (+5.7%) and the Middle East (+5.4%). North America showed the slowest growth at 1.9%. Among domestic markets, Brazil again led the way with a 9.4% increase, while Japan reached a record July load factor of 81.4%.

Cargo volumes also showed strong momentum. Industry-wide demand, measured in cargo tonne-kilometers (CTK), rose 5.5% compared to July 2024, while available cargo capacity (ACTK) increased by 3.9%.

“Cargo demand rose by 5.5% in July — an impressive result,” Walsh said. He noted that growth was observed on most trade lanes, except Asia–North America, where demand fell 1.0% for the third consecutive month. Meanwhile, the Europe–Asia route, which accounts for one-fifth of all global air cargo, surged 13.5% and has now grown for 29 consecutive months.

The highest regional cargo demand growth came from Asia-Pacific carriers (+11.1%) and Africa (+9.4%), while North American airlines recorded the weakest gain at just 0.7%.

Several economic factors influenced the industry’s performance. Global goods trade in June increased by 3.1% year-on-year. In addition, jet fuel prices in July were 9.1% lower than a year earlier, helping airlines reduce operating costs. However, uncertainty remains amid declining global manufacturing output and falling export orders for the fourth month in a row.