Demand for air travel to, from and within Africa rose by 6.4 per cent year-on-year in July 2026, thereby outperforming the global market where passenger demand grew by just 0.2 per cent, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said.

The latest IATA global passenger demand data for July 2026 showed that African airlines recorded a 6.4 per cent increase in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK), compared with July 2025, reflecting continued expansion in the continent’s aviation market despite persistent economic and operational challenges.

The report said the strong growth in passenger demand was accompanied by an even higher 9.0 per cent increase in available seat capacity, resulting in a decline in the passenger load factor to 74.1 per cent.

According to IATA, the load factor for African airlines fell by 1.8 percentage points compared with July 2025.

The performance placed Africa among the stronger-performing international aviation markets during the peak Northern Hemisphere summer travel season, although it remained behind Latin America, which recorded a 7.1 per cent growth in demand during the period, the report said.

Globally, total passenger demand, measured in RPK, increased by only 0.2 per cent year-on-year in July, while airline capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASK), rose by 0.3 per cent.

The global passenger load factor consequently stood at 85.2 per cent, representing a marginal 0.1 percentage-point decline from July 2025.

The relatively weak global growth was attributed to collective declines recorded by airlines in North America and the Middle East, even as other regions recorded stronger performances.

Commenting on the development, IATA’s Senior Vice President, Sustainability, and Chief Economist, Marie Thomsen, said the peak Northern summer travel season had produced a largely positive outcome for the global aviation industry.

Thomsen said: “The peak Northern summer travel season is a mostly positive story for air travel. Overall growth of 0.2 per cent in July was achieved despite year-on-year collective declines by carriers in North America and the Middle East. Notably, traffic through the Gulf hubs continues its recovery trajectory.

“Although high fuel costs, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions continue, carriers are expressing confidence in demand for the last part of the year with an almost 3 per cent expansion of seat capacity in September.”

Thomsen noted that traffic through the Gulf hubs was continuing its recovery, while airlines were maintaining confidence in demand for the remaining months of the year.

She added that carriers were planning an almost three per cent expansion in seat capacity in September despite high fuel prices, economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions.

The African market’s 6.4 per cent demand growth comes against the backdrop of continued efforts by governments and airlines across the continent to expand connectivity, develop new routes and take advantage of the growing demand for intra-African travel.

However, the nine per cent increase in capacity compared with the 6.4 per cent growth in demand highlights the challenge facing African carriers in converting additional seats into passengers.

With the continent’s load factor standing at 74.1 per cent, African airlines recorded the lowest load factor among the major international regions covered by IATA in July.

For international markets globally, passenger demand fell by 0.1 per cent year-on-year in July, while capacity increased by 0.3 per cent. When Middle Eastern carriers were excluded, however, international demand grew by 1.5 per cent.

European airlines recorded a 3.1 per cent increase in demand, with capacity rising by 3.2 per cent and the load factor standing at 87.1 per cent.