The International Air Transport Association reported that African carriers experienced a 6.7 percent rise in demand for air travel in February 2025 compared to the corresponding month in 2024.
The IATA report indicated that the overall global demand for air travel, calculated using revenue passenger kilometers, saw an increase of 2.6% when compared to February 2024. Meanwhile, the total seating capacity, as measured in available seat kilometers, experienced a rise of 2% from the previous year.
These were included in the worldwide data published by IATA on Monday.
As stated by IATA in their regional market analysis, African carriers saw a 6.7 percent increase in demand compared to the previous year, accompanied by a 4 percent rise in capacity over the same period.
Additionally, the load factor for Africa increased to 75.3 percent in comparison to February 2024. Globally, the overall demand, calculated in terms of RPKs, saw an increase of 2.6 percent from February 2024 levels.
Moreover, the overall capacity, expressed in ASKs, increased by two percent compared to the previous year, whereas the load factor for February stood at 81.1 percent when contrasted with the same period in February 2024.
The IATA report indicated that international demand increased by 5.6 percent in comparison with February 2024, while capacity grew by 4.5 percent year-over-year. During this reviewed timeframe, the load factor stood at 80.2 percent.
Home market consumption decreased by 1.9 percent relative to February 2024, and the available capacity dropped by 1.7 percent year-over-year; meanwhile, the occupancy rate stood at 82.6 percent as opposed to February 2024.
Discussing the figures, Willie Walsh, the Director-General of IATA, noted that although traffic growth decelerated in February, a significant portion of this slowdown can be attributed to elements such as the leap year and the timing difference between when the Lunar New Year fell—this year in January rather than in February like last year.
Walsh highlighted that the traffic in February reached unprecedented levels, with plans for the count of planned flights to keep rising through March and into April.
He stated: “The recent closure of Heathrow highlighted that the existing passenger rights framework in Europe and the UK is inadequate.”
The yearly expenses for compensation, care, and support amount to several billion euros. Fortunately, the Polish leadership of the EU has acknowledged that this hinders Europe’s competitive edge and is moving forward with essential and eagerly awaited changes to EU Regulation 261.
Although numerous suggested improvements make sense, the overall proposal falls short of providing a genuine resolution.
Despite the reforms, EU Regulation 261 will continue to penalize airlines with fines even when the delay originates from external infrastructure issues beyond their control, such as those experienced at Heathrow.
Despite over twenty years since the implementation of EU261, delays have persisted as infrastructure providers lack motivation to enhance their performance.
“Sadly, for European travellers, we are likely to see this play out again in this summer’s peak travel season. Genuine reform of EU261 must ensure that all parties responsible for delays have a stake in the consequences,” said Walsh.
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