IATA: African airlines see 5.3% rise in international passenger demand in September  

African airlines recorded a 5.3% rise in international passenger demand in September 2025, with the load factor climbing slightly to 74.7%.

This is according to the September 2025 global passenger demand market figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This increase reflects a steady recovery in international air travel across the continent, driven primarily by intra-African routes and growing leisure and business travel.

Airlines expanded capacity by 5.1% during the month, with capacity referring to the total seats available for sale.

This was slightly below the increase in traffic, helping push the load factor, which measures the share of seats actually filled by paying passengers, up by 0.1 percentage points year-on-year.

“African airlines saw a 5.3% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity was up 5.1% year-on-year. The load factor was 74.7% (+0.1 ppt compared to September 2024),” the IATA report read in part.

Globally, for September 2025, total passenger demand increased 3.6% compared to September 2024, with capacity up 3.7% and a load factor of 83.4%, down 0.1 percentage points from a year earlier. International demand rose 5.1%, with capacity up 5.2% and a load factor of 83.6%, while domestic demand increased 0.9%, with capacity up 1.1% and a load factor of 83.0%.

More insights 

IATA Director General Willie Walsh said that solid international demand drove most of September 2025’s 3.6% global passenger growth. Capacity expanded slightly faster at 3.7%, but load factors remained strong at 83.4%.

• He noted that with November flight schedules showing a 3% increase over last year, airlines are preparing for continued growth into the year-end holiday season despite ongoing supply chain constraints.
• For September 2025, Africa accounted for 2.2% of the global air passenger market, smaller than Asia-Pacific with 33.5%, Europe with 26.7%, and North America with 22.9%. The Middle East held 9.4%, and Latin America and the Caribbean 5.3%.

While Africa’s share remained modest, the 5.3% increase in passenger demand and the slight improvement in load factor to 74.7% highlight positive growth trends for the continent’s airlines.

International passenger demand by region in September 2025 

International passenger demand in September 2025 showed varying growth across regions.

• African carriers grew steadily, recording a 5.3% increase in demand and a load factor of 74.7%, though their growth was slower than that of Asia-Pacific airlines, which saw a 7.4% rise in demand and a load factor of 83.3%, driven largely by intra-Asia travel from China and Japan.
• European carriers experienced a 2.9% increase in demand and posted the highest load factor globally at 86.2%, while North American airlines saw nearly flat demand at -0.1% and a load factor of 81.2%, reflecting weaker trans-Pacific traffic.

Middle Eastern airlines recorded a 6.2% increase in demand with a stable load factor of 81.8%, and Latin America and the Caribbean grew 5.4% with a load factor of 83.6%.