African airlines recorded the strongest passenger traffic growth of any region in June 2026, outperforming a global market that contracted for the third consecutive month.
According to the International Air Transport Association’s Air Passenger Market Analysis for June 2026, passenger traffic carried by African airlines increased by 3.8% year on year, measured in revenue passenger kilometres. This compared with a 1.7% decline across the global airline industry.
Capacity among African carriers, measured in available seat kilometres, expanded by 4.7% year on year. As capacity grew more quickly than demand, the region’s passenger load factor declined by 0.6 percentage points to 73.9%.
Despite the reduction, Africa’s year-to-date figures showed stronger utilisation than during the corresponding period in 2025. During the first six months of 2026, passenger traffic carried by African airlines increased by 7.7%, while capacity grew by 5.6%. The year-to-date passenger load factor consequently rose by 1.4 percentage points to 76.0%.
Africa accounted for 2.2% of global industry passenger traffic in 2025, based on the airline region of registration.
International Traffic Drives African Performance
International services were the main driver of Africa’s June performance. International passenger traffic carried by African airlines increased by 6.7% year on year, the highest growth rate recorded among all regions.
International capacity expanded by 7.0%, broadly matching the increase in demand. The international passenger load factor declined slightly, falling by 0.3 percentage points to 74.2%.
Although Africa led international traffic growth, it continued to record the lowest international passenger load factor among the regions covered by IATA.
The year-to-date international figures nevertheless showed demand growing considerably faster than capacity. International passenger traffic increased by 9.2% during the first six months of 2026, while capacity rose by 6.2%. This lifted the year-to-date international passenger load factor by 2.1 percentage points to 76.2%.
African airlines represented 1.9% of the global international passenger market in 2025.
Africa Outperforms a Contracting Global Market
Africa’s performance contrasted with weakening passenger demand across much of the global aviation market. Total global passenger traffic declined by 1.7% year on year in June, while international traffic fell by 0.9%.
Asia-Pacific, North American and Middle Eastern airlines all recorded traffic contractions. European carriers achieved growth of 0.8%, while airlines in Latin America and the Caribbean recorded an increase of 1.5%.
African airlines’ 3.8% increase was the highest total passenger traffic growth among the regions, while their 6.7% increase in international traffic was also the strongest international result.
IATA reported that year-on-year traffic growth momentum softened among African airlines compared with May. However, the region remained the global leader for both total and international passenger growth during June.
The figures are allocated according to the region in which each airline is registered and should not be interpreted as measuring passenger traffic conducted entirely within Africa.
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