IATA: March N. American Air Traffic Continues Decline

March North American air demand, as measured in revenue passenger kilometers, declined 1.1 percent year over year, the second straight month of decline, according to the International Air Transport Association. North American capacity, as measured in available seat kilometers, increased 3.5 percent for the same period. 

In February, the North American demand decline was 3.2 percent year over year, while capacity that month also was down by 1.9 percent.

March total global air demand increased 3.3 percent year over year, with capacity up 5.3 percent. The March load factor was 80.7 percent, 1.6 percentage points lower than March 2024. 

International demand for March increased 4.9 percent compared with a year prior. Capacity was up 7 percent year over year, while the load factor declined 1.7 percentage points to 79.9 percent. The growth rate was lower than the 5.9 percent reported for February and the 12.5 percent reported for January. 

"This slowdown since January reflects in large part the final normalization of year-on-year demand comparisons post-Covid," according to IATA. 

March domestic demand increased 0.9 percent year over year, with capacity up 2.5 percent. The load factor was down 1.3 percentage points from March 2024 to 82 percent.

"There remains a lot of speculation around the potential impacts of tariffs and other economic headwinds on travel," IATA director general Willie Walsh said in a statement. "While the small decline in demand in North America needs to be watched carefully, March numbers continue to show a global pattern of growth for air travel."

[Report continues below chart.]

The only other region aside from North America with a total demand decline in March was the Middle East, where it was down 0.7 percent year over year, while its capacity increased 3 percent. Asia-Pacific reported the highest traffic growth at 6.3 percent compared with March 2024, followed closely by Latin America at 6.2 percent. The latter reported the highest capacity growth at 8.8 percent year over year. 

For March international markets, the Middle East joined North America and reported a demand decline, of 1 percent compared with March 2024. Asia-Pacific once again had the highest traffic growth at 9.9 percent year over year. Latin America led international capacity growth at 12.1 percent. Load factors declined across the board, as capacity growth outstripped demand growth for each of the reporting regions. 

March domestic traffic and capacity were a little more balanced. Just two of the six reporting countries had declining load factors: the United States, down 4.8 percentage points year over year to 80.3 percent, and India, down 2.6 percentage points to 83.3 percent. Those also were the only two countries where capacity growth outstripped demand for the month. India's increases in each demand and capacity were 11 percent and 14.5 percent year over year, respectively. U.S. traffic declined 1.7 percent on a capacity gain of 4.2 percent. 

 IATA: February N. American Traffic, Capacity Down