Global air demand down 0.8%; India domestic traffic falls 7.5% in August.
The International aviation Transport Association (IATA) reports that in August 2026, global aviation passenger demand fell 0.8% year over year due to a significant fall in Middle East traffic. Global demand rose by 0.6% from August 2025, excluding carriers in the Middle East.
While the global passenger load factor decreased by 0.9 percentage points to 85.1%, total capacity, expressed in Available Seat Kilometres (ASK), increased by 0.3% annually.
While capacity remained constant and the load factor decreased by 0.8 percentage points to 85%, international passenger demand decreased by 0.9% annually. However, foreign demand increased by 1.3% when Middle Eastern carriers were excluded.
In comparison to August 2025, domestic demand decreased by 0.5% while capacity rose by 0.7%. At 85.3%, the domestic load factor decreased by 1.1 percentage points.
“Global demand for air transport contracted by 0.8% compared to August 2025 as the recovery trajectory for carriers in the Middle East was interrupted,” stated Marie Owens Thomsen, Senior Vise President Sustainability and Chief Economist at IATA, in response to the data. Demand was 14.6% lower year over year, according to the region’s carriers, reversing an upward trend.
With the exception of carriers in the Middle East, she continued, demand increased 0.6% year over year in August, which was half the rate in July. According to IATA, forward schedules for October showed “cautious optimism,” with a 2% rise in available seats anticipated.
Domestic traffic in India decreases by 7.5%.
Among the six domestic passenger markets that IATA tracks separately, India saw the worst loss, with domestic Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) declining 7.5% year over year in August. The passenger load factor decreased by 5.4 percentage points to 78.7%, while domestic capacity decreased by 1.2%.
In contrast, China’s domestic demand increased by 5.8% thanks to summer tourism, while Brazil’s increased by 4.3% and Australia’s by 2.3%. In the US and Japan, domestic traffic decreased by 2.9% and 2%, respectively.
International performance is impacted by the Middle East
In comparison to August 2025, Middle Eastern airlines saw a 14.2% decrease in demand for international passengers and a 9% decrease in capacity. The international load factor for the area decreased by 4.8 percentage points to 79.1%.
According to IATA, the slow stabilisation that had been observed since the Iran conflict in February was reversed as the fall got worse in August. In contrast to an 8.6% decrease in July, traffic on Middle East–Asia routes shrank by 11.7% year over year.
International demand for Asia-Pacific airlines dropped by 0.1%, capacity dropped by 0.9%, and load factor increased by 0.7 percentage points to 85.6%. While the Asia–North America corridor had a 2.5% increase in traffic, routes within Asia saw a 2% decrease.
International demand for European carriers increased by 2.1%, while capacity increased by 2.8%. While transatlantic traffic decreased by 2.4%, the Europe–Asia corridor’s traffic increased by 12.2%.
International demand fell by 1.7% and capacity decreased by 1.1% for North American carriers. The largest gain in international demand was produced by airlines in Latin America and Africa, both of which saw yearly increases of 6.7%.
At the overall market level, demand growth was highest in Latin America and the Caribbean (5.3%), followed by Africa (4.4%). While North America fell 2.2% and the Middle East fell 14.6%, Asia-Pacific rose 1.4% and Europe grew 0.7%.
According to IATA, the upcoming months will show whether rising oil costs and geopolitical unrest are starting to have an impact on travellers’ spending plans and choices.
