North America leads slowdown in air traffic growth, says IATA
April 2, 2025
Global air traffic growth decelerated in February, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which pointed to calendar shifts and regional slowdowns as key factors behind the trend.
Total passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), increased by 2.6% compared to February 2024. Capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), grew by 2% year-on-year, with the load factor rising slightly to 81.1% (+0.4 percentage points).
International travel remained strong, with demand increasing 5.6% compared to the previous year. Capacity for international flights expanded by 4.5%, and the load factor improved to 80.2% (+0.9 percentage points). However, domestic travel lagged, with demand declining by 1.9% and capacity shrinking by 1.7%, resulting in a slight dip in the load factor to 82.6% (-0.2 percentage points).
“While traffic growth slowed in February, much of this can be explained by factors including the leap year, and lunar new year falling in January compared to February last year. February traffic hit an all-time high, and the number of scheduled flights is set to continue increasing in March and April. But we need to keep a close eye on developments in North America, which saw falls in both domestic and international traffic,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
Beyond the traffic figures, Walsh highlighted regulatory concerns impacting the airline industry, particularly regarding passenger rights legislation in Europe and the UK.
“The recent shut-down of Heathrow reminded us once again that the current passenger rights regime in place in Europe and the UK is not fit for purpose. The annual costs of compensation, care and assistance run into the billions. Thankfully, the Polish Presidency of the EU has recognised that this is a drag on European competitiveness and is progressing much-needed and long-anticipated reforms to EU261,” said Walsh.
“While many of the proposed reforms are sensible, the package stops short of a real solution. Even with the reforms, EU261 will still target the airlines with penalties even if the root cause of delays is an infrastructure incident out of their control—like we saw at Heathrow.
“Over two decades of EU261 have not seen a reduction in delays because infrastructure providers have no incentive to improve their game. Sadly for European travelers, we are likely to see this play out again in this summer’s peak travel season. Genuine reform of EU261 must ensure that all parties responsible for delays have a stake in the consequences.”
Despite February’s slower growth, the outlook for the coming months remains positive, with airlines expecting an increase in scheduled flights for March and April.
However, concerns over regional slowdowns and regulatory challenges continue to loom over the industry.
