IBA’s latest Aviation Industry Barometer shows that monthly global airline passenger capacity as measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs) is steadily reaching pre-pandemic levels, with 95% recorded in April 2023.
IBA predicts that global capacity will surpass 2019 levels by July 2023.
Data from IBA Insight, IBA’s aviation intelligence platform, revealed that in April:
- Monthly global passenger capacity reached 95% of pre-pandemic ASKs in April 2023 – an improvement of +3% compared to March 2023.
- Airlines in Latin America, North America and Africa are already trending above 2019 capacity levels on average.
Following the current trend, IBA expects global passenger ASKs to surpass 2019 levels by July 2023.
Overall, there were approximately 2.66 million commercial passenger flights in April 2023, compared to 2.61 million in March 2023, while 2.08 million flights were recorded in April 2022.
There were 83 commercial aircraft deliveries in April 2023, representing month-on-month and year-on-year variances of -34% and +12% respectively.
Specifically, Boeing delivered less than half the number of jets of Airbus last month as supply chain issues continue to impact Boeing 737 MAX deliveries in the near term.
