African airlines’ passenger traffic rose by 84.8% in July 2022

African airlines witnessed an increase of 84.8 per cent  in Revenue Passenger Kilometre (RPK) in July compared to July 2021.

The passenger capacity of the airlines was up by 46.7 per cent, and the passenger load factor (PLF) climbed 15.5 per cent points to 75.0 per cent, the lowest among regions. While RPK measures actual passenger traffic, PLF is the per cent of the available passenger capacity used.

These were disclosed by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) via its Air Passenger Market analysis released on Wednesday.

Total traffic in July 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) was up 58.8 per cent compared to July 2021. Globally, traffic is now at 74.6 per cent of pre-crisis levels.

Domestic traffic for July 2022 was up 4.1 per cent compared to the year-ago period and is now driving the recovery. Total July 2022 domestic traffic was at 86.9 per cent of the July 2019 level. China saw a strong month-to-month improvement compared to June.

International traffic rose 150.6 per cent versus July 2021. July 2022 international RPKs reached 67.9 per cent of July 2019 levels. All markets reported strong growth, led by Asia-Pacific.

African airlines saw an 84.8 per cent rise in July RPKs versus a year ago. July 2022 capacity was up 46.7 per cent and load factor climbed 15.5 percentage points to 75.0 per cent, the lowest among regions.

African airlines saw cargo volumes decrease by 3.5 per cent in July 2022 compared to July 2021. This was significantly slower than the growth recorded the previous month (5.7 per cent). Capacity was 2.2 per cent below July 2021 levels.

IATA’s Director General,Willie Walsh,  said, “July’s performance continued to be strong, with some markets approaching pre-COVID levels. And that is even with capacity constraints in parts of the world that were unprepared for the speed at which people returned to travel.

“There is still more ground to recover, but this is an excellent sign as we head into the traditionally slower autumn and winter quarters in the Northern Hemisphere.”