African airlines recorded a 6.7% year-on-year increase in international passenger demand in August 2026, significantly outperforming a global aviation market that contracted during the month, according to new data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
International capacity among African carriers increased even faster, rising 8.3% compared with August 2025. As a result, the region’s passenger load factor declined 1.2 percentage points to 78.4%, suggesting airlines added seats faster than passenger demand grew.
Across Africa’s total market, including domestic traffic, passenger demand measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 4.4%, while capacity expanded 7.2%. The total African load factor stood at 77.5%, down 2.1 percentage points.
The African performance contrasted sharply with the global market.
Worldwide passenger demand declined 0.8% year-on-year in August, while capacity increased 0.3%, pushing the global passenger load factor down 0.9 percentage points to 85.1%.
International demand fell 0.9%, while domestic traffic contracted 0.5%.
The headline global decline was heavily influenced by disruption in the Middle East, where total passenger demand fell 14.6% year-on-year and capacity declined 9.3%.
“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,” said Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist.
Excluding Middle Eastern carriers, IATA said global passenger demand would have increased 0.6%, although that was only half the growth rate recorded in July.
Among international markets, Latin American airlines recorded the strongest growth at 6.7%, matching Africa, while European carriers grew 2.1%. North American international demand declined 1.7%, while Asia-Pacific carriers recorded a marginal 0.1% contraction.
Domestic markets also weakened globally. India recorded the steepest decline among the major domestic markets tracked by IATA, with passenger demand falling 7.5%, while US domestic traffic declined 2.9% and Japan fell 2.0%. China was a notable exception, with domestic demand increasing 5.8%.
IATA cautioned that higher energy prices and geopolitical uncertainty could increasingly influence passenger spending decisions over the coming months. However, forward schedules currently point to some improvement, with available airline seats expected to increase 2.0% in October.
For African airlines, August’s numbers continue to show relatively strong underlying passenger growth. But with capacity expanding faster than traffic, particularly internationally – maintaining yields and improving load factors will be increasingly important as carriers continue adding capacity across the continent.
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