Global air passenger demand dips 0.5% in September

Global air passenger demand fell 0.5% year-on-year in September, weighed down by ongoing weakness in the Middle East and North America, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Friday.

Total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, dipped 0.5% compared to September 2025 but grew 0.3% when excluding the Middle East, the industry group reported.

Total airline capacity, measured in available seat kilometers, fell 0.2% year-on-year, while the global passenger load factor slipped 0.3 percentage points to 83.2%.

"Air traffic demand fell 0.5% in September, reflecting weaknesses in the Middle East and North America," said Marie Owens Thomsen, senior vice president of sustainability and chief economist at the association.

"Nevertheless, this was an improvement from August, with a welcome return to growth in most international markets," Thomsen said.

"These patterns have more or less repeated themselves throughout much of the year, and we can expect this to continue amid geopolitical uncertainty and volatile fuel prices," she added.

International passenger demand rose 0.4% year-on-year in September and climbed 1.7% when excluding the Middle East, with capacity expanding 0.5% and the load factor standing at 83.6%.

In international markets, Latin American airlines led growth with an 8.2% surge in demand, followed by African carriers at 8%, European airlines at 1.8% and Asia-Pacific carriers at 0.7%.

North American airlines recorded flat international demand, while capacity fell 1.9%.

Middle Eastern carriers experienced a 7.5% drop in international demand as capacity declined 3.3%, driven by an 8.8% contraction on the Middle East-Asia corridor.

Domestic air travel demand fell 2.2% year-on-year in September, as domestic capacity declined 1.3% and the load factor slipped to 82.5%.

Domestic market contractions were led by an 8.3% plunge in India and a 2.7% drop in the US, while domestic traffic in Japan edged down 0.8% due to weather disruptions.

In contrast, domestic demand expanded by 4.5% in Australia, 3.1% in China and 2% in Brazil.