IATA Reports Continued Recovery for African Airlines With Strong February Growth

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported that African airlines recorded a 6.7 percent year-on-year increase in passenger demand in February 2025.

The report released by IATA on global air traffic data showed that the capacity for African carriers rose by 4 percent while the load factor improved by 2 percentage points to 75.3 percent compared to the same period in 2024.

The growth in African air traffic outpaced global averages with total passenger demand worldwide rising by 2.6 percent year-on-year.

The overall capacity was up by 2 percent while the global load factor rose to 81.1 percent, a modest increase of 0.4 percentage points from February 2024.

International travel demand increased by 5.6 percent during the month while domestic traffic declined by 1.9 percent.

The decline in domestic traffic was attributed to seasonal effects, including the leap year and the timing of the Lunar New Year which fell in January instead of February as it did last year.

Regionally, Asia-Pacific airlines led global growth with a 9.5 percent year-on-year rise in demand and a load factor of 85.7 percent.

European carriers posted a 5.7 percent increase while Middle Eastern airlines recorded 3.1 percent growth. Latin American airlines matched Africa’s growth at 6.7 percent though their load factor declined by 2.5 percentage points to 81.7 percent.

North American carriers were the only region to report a decline in passenger demand, falling by 1.5 percent. Their capacity also dropped by 3.2 percent, although the load factor improved slightly to 78.9 percent.

Speaking on the results, IATA Director General Willie Walsh noted that although traffic growth slowed in February, total traffic volumes reached an all-time high.

He stated that scheduled flights are expected to increase through March and April but called for close monitoring of developments in North America where both domestic and international demand weakened.