Africa passenger demand up 8.8% in October as global air travel rises 6.6%
IATA has reported that global passenger demand rose 6.6% year-on-year in October 2025. Africa outpaced the average, with carriers posting an 8.8% increase in RPKs and an 8.3% rise in capacity; the region’s load factor reached 73.9% – still the lowest globally – but improved by 0.3 percentage points.
On international routes, African airlines recorded 7.3% demand growth against a 5.3% capacity increase, lifting load factor to 74.1% (+1.4 ppt). IATA described October as a strong month for air travel and signalled further capacity growth into November and December, indicating solid holiday traffic, while globally the load factor was 84.6% and Asia–Pacific and the Middle East led regional gains.
