The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released global passenger demand data for June 2026, revealing a 1.7% year-on-year drop in total traffic (measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers, or RPK).
The market contraction was primarily driven by slumps across key domestic markets—notably China, the United States, and Japan—alongside ongoing geopolitical instability in the Middle East and rising global fuel costs.
-
Total Passenger Demand: Down 1.7% compared to June 2025. Excluding the Middle East, global demand dropped by 0.6%.
-
Total Capacity: Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) fell 1.3% year-on-year.
-
Passenger Load Factor (PLF): Stood at 84.2% (-0.4 percentage points vs. June 2025).
-
International Demand: Decreased 0.9% year-on-year. Excluding Middle Eastern carriers, international traffic rose by 1.1%.
-
Domestic Demand: Contracted 3.0% overall, driven by notable cutbacks in major aviation markets.
-
“Global demand for air travel was down 1.7% in June compared to 2025. This is largely due to domestic market declines in China, the US, and Japan, and weak but improving international demand for Middle East carriers. While Middle East performance improved, renewed tensions will not help the region’s recovery, and the knock-on impact of rising fuel prices will continue to burden travelers with higher airfares.
“People continue to travel, which is an important contributor to global economic growth. There is no doubt, however, that stabilizing the situation in the Middle East and normalizing oil supplies would improve prospects for airlines, economies, and societies the world over,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General.
| Region | Demand (RPK YoY) | Capacity (ASK YoY) | Load Factor (Level) | Load Factor (Change) |
| African Carriers | +6.7% | +7.0% | 74.2% | -0.3 ppt |
| Latin American Carriers | +3.5% | +6.3% | 81.6% | -2.2 ppt |
| European Carriers | +1.5% | +2.0% | 87.1% | -0.5 ppt |
| Asia-Pacific Carriers | +0.4% | -1.1% | 84.0% | +1.3 ppt |
| North American Carriers | -1.0% | -0.7% | 86.9% | -0.3 ppt |
| Middle Eastern Carriers | -14.0% | -11.0% | 76.3% | -2.6 ppt |
-
Europe & Asia: Europe-Asia routes recorded the strongest growth among all major international corridors at +11.0%. Conversely, intra-Asia international capacity dropped 4.8% as airlines trimmed short-haul routes in response to surging jet fuel prices.
-
Middle East: The region’s 14.0% decline reflects the lingering impacts of regional conflict. However, the rate of decline has halved month-over-month since April 2026, signaling a gradual operational normalization and a lower comparison base from June 2025.
Domestic travel fell 3.0% overall, with high fuel prices exerting significant downward pressure on carrier operations and passenger ticket costs.
-
China & Japan: Saw the steepest domestic declines at -5.2% and -3.8% respectively.
-
United States: Domestic RPK dropped 1.2%, with capacity decreasing by 1.3%.
-
Brazil & Australia: Brazil was the sole major market to report demand growth at +0.9% (despite a 2.5 ppt drop in load factor to 80.2%), while Australia remained flat (0.0%).
