Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), rose 3.4% year‑on‑year, outpacing demand and causing the global load factor to dip 0.6 percentage points to 84.5% – still near historic highs. International traffic grew 3.2%, while domestic traffic rose 1.6%.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said, “In June, demand for air travel grew by 2.6%. That’s a slower pace than we have seen in previous months and reflects disruptions around military conflict in the Middle East. With demand growth lagging the 3.4% capacity expansion, load factors dipped 0.6 percentage points from their all‑time record‑high levels. At 84.5% globally, however, load factors are still very strong. And with a modest 1.8% capacity growth visible in August schedules, load factors over the Northern summer are unlikely to stray far from their recent historic highs.”

Regional Trends

• Asia-Pacific carriers led growth with a 7.2% increase in international RPKs.
• Europe saw 2.8% growth, supported by summer travel demand.
• North America declined 0.3% in international traffic despite a 2.2% capacity increase.
• Middle East carriers were hit hardest, with a 0.4% fall in demand and a 1.2‑point drop in load factor to 78.7%, reflecting conflict‑related route impacts.
• Latin America grew 9.3% year‑on‑year, though load factors fell to 83.3%.
• Africa declined 0.3%, with a 74.6% load factor.

Domestic markets saw moderate growth, with Brazil outperforming at 14.7% RPK growth, while the US domestic market posted a marginal 0.1% increase after months of stagnation.

IATA noted that the current demand slowdown remains modest, with high load factors expected to persist through the Northern Hemisphere summer.