African airlines recorded a 4.4% year-on-year increase in passenger traffic in August 2026, while capacity expanded by 7.2%, according to the International Air Transport Association’s latest Air Passenger Market Analysis.
The faster increase in capacity relative to demand resulted in a 2.1 percentage point decline in the passenger load factor, which fell to 77.5% for African carriers during the month. Africa accounted for 2.2% of global industry revenue passenger kilometres in 2025.
The performance came against a weaker global market in August. Industry-wide revenue passenger kilometres declined by 0.8% year-on-year, following marginal growth of 0.3% in July. Global capacity, measured in available seat kilometres, increased by 0.3%, while the industry passenger load factor fell by 0.9 percentage points to 85.1%.
IATA reported that global passenger traffic reached 893 billion revenue passenger kilometres in August. On a seasonally adjusted basis, traffic declined by 0.7% year-on-year and remained unchanged from July.
International traffic declined by 0.9% year-on-year globally, with international capacity unchanged from August 2025. The international passenger load factor fell by 0.8 percentage points to 85.0%. Domestic traffic declined by 0.5%, while domestic capacity increased by 0.7%, resulting in a 1.1 percentage point reduction in the domestic load factor to 85.3%.
African airlines performed more strongly in the international market, recording a 6.7% year-on-year increase in international passenger traffic. International capacity among African carriers increased by 8.3%, again outpacing demand growth, which resulted in a 1.2 percentage point decline in the international passenger load factor to 78.4%.
African carriers accounted for 1.9% of global international industry revenue passenger kilometres in 2025.
The August figures also show that, on a year-to-date basis, total passenger traffic carried by African airlines increased by 7.1%, compared with capacity growth of 6.8%. The passenger load factor for the January-to-August period increased by 0.2 percentage points to 75.7%.
International traffic carried by African airlines increased by 8.6% year-to-date, while international capacity increased by 7.0%. The international passenger load factor rose by 1.1 percentage points to 76.2%.
Across the other airline regions, Latin American and Caribbean carriers recorded the strongest total traffic growth in August, with demand increasing by 5.3% year-on-year. Capacity increased by 6.3%, reducing the region’s passenger load factor by 0.8 percentage points to 84.0%.
Asia Pacific airlines recorded 1.4% growth in passenger traffic, while capacity increased by 1.3%. The region’s passenger load factor rose by 0.1 percentage points to 85.9%, which IATA said was a record high for August.
European carriers recorded a 0.7% year-on-year increase in traffic, supported by a 2.1% increase in international demand. Capacity increased by 1.4%, while the passenger load factor declined by 0.6 percentage points to 87.5%, the highest among the regions in August.
North American carriers recorded a 2.2% decline in total passenger traffic, marking a fourth consecutive month of contraction. Capacity declined by 1.0%, while the passenger load factor fell to 84.6%.
Middle Eastern airlines recorded the largest regional decline, with total passenger traffic falling by 14.6% year-on-year. Capacity declined by 9.3%, while the passenger load factor fell by 4.9 percentage points to 78.9%.
In the international market, Middle Eastern carriers also recorded the largest decline, with revenue passenger kilometres down 14.2% year-on-year. Capacity fell by 9.0%, while the international passenger load factor declined by 4.8 percentage points to 79.1%.
IATA’s report also indicates that global scheduled seat capacity is expected to increase by 1.6% year-on-year in September and by 2.0% in October, based on schedules available when the analysis was published.
The association noted that regional traffic growth weakened across most markets in August, while contractions deepened in the Middle East and North America. Africa remained among the regions recording year-on-year traffic growth, although capacity growth continued to exceed demand during the month.
