African airlines recorded a 9.5% year-on-year increase in international air travel demand in May 2025, marking one of the strongest performances globally, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
While the Asia-Pacific region led in overall demand growth, African carriers posted the highest improvement in load factor, rising by 2.2 percentage points to 74.9%, the most significant seat occupancy gain among all regions.
A key driver of this growth was the sharp increase in traffic on the Africa–Asia corridor, where demand surged 15.9% year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing international route worldwide for the month.
To support this rising demand, African carriers expanded their capacity by 6.2%, effectively aligning seat supply with passenger growth and avoiding oversupply challenges.
“African airlines saw a 9.5% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity was up 6.2% year-on-year. The load factor was 74.9% (+2.2 ppt compared to May 2024). Africa-Asia is the fastest-growing international corridor, with an expansion of 15.9%,” the IATA report read in part.
Globally, international passenger demand grew by 6.7% in May 2025, with capacity rising 6.4%, bringing the overall international load factor to 83.2%, a new record for the month of May. Across international and domestic markets, global air travel demand and capacity each rose by 5.0% in May, while the average load factor edged down slightly to 83.4%.
IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh, observed that air travel growth in May was uneven across regions, with Asia-Pacific leading overall and Africa demonstrating notable strength in international markets. He cautioned that geopolitical instability, particularly in the Middle East, remains a key risk, although oil prices remained low throughout the month.
Nevertheless, strong forward bookings for the Northern Hemisphere summer signal continued recovery, with Africa’s performance reflecting a broader upward trend supported by rising demand, stronger intercontinental connectivity, and more efficient airline operations.
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Beyond African airlines, other regions also recorded varying degrees of growth in international air travel during May 2025. Asia-Pacific led globally, with a 13.3% increase in demand and a 10.6% rise in capacity, resulting in a load factor of 84.0%, up 2.0 percentage points compared to May 2024.
- Latin American carriers saw international demand rise by 8.8%, but with a sharper 11.0% increase in capacity, their load factor dropped to 83.6%, reflecting possible overcapacity in the region.
- In the Middle East, both demand and capacity rose at a similar pace—6.2% and 6.3%, respectively—leaving the load factor nearly unchanged at 80.9%, down slightly by 0.1 percentage point.
European airlines experienced a 4.1% growth in demand and a 4.8% rise in capacity, which resulted in a load factor of 84.0%, a slight decline of 0.6 percentage point year-on-year.
Meanwhile, North America posted the weakest performance among all regions. International demand rose by just 1.4%, while capacity increased 1.7%, causing the load factor to fall to 83.8%, a 0.3 percentage point drop from May 2024.
