Global air traffic grows strongly in 2025 as capacity constraints persist – IATA

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its annual aviation statistics for 2025, reporting solid growth in both passenger and air cargo traffic, while warning that capacity constraints remain a major challenge for the industry, Azernews reports.

Passenger traffic continued its post-pandemic normalization, with global demand rising by 5.3% year-on-year, closely matched by a 5.2% increase in capacity. The average annual passenger load factor reached 83.6%, the highest level ever recorded for a full year.

International travel was the main growth driver, expanding by 7.1%, while capacity rose by 6.8%. The international load factor climbed to 83.5%, also a record. Domestic passenger traffic grew more modestly at 2.4%, with a load factor of 83.7%.

Regionally, the Asia-Pacific market posted the strongest growth and highest load factors, while North America recorded the weakest expansion. Latin America saw the sharpest decline in load factor despite continued demand growth.

Commenting on the results, IATA Director General Willie Walsh said:

“The growth in passenger demand in 2025 confirmed the industry's return to sustainable, historically normal growth rates. However, record load factors clearly demonstrate that capacity constraints remain a key challenge for aviation today.”

Air cargo also delivered a solid performance in 2025. Global cargo demand increased by 3.4%, while capacity rose by 3.7%. International cargo traffic grew faster, expanding by 4.2%. Although cargo yields declined by 1.5%, this was the smallest annual drop in three years, and yields remain 37.2% above 2019 levels.

The Asia-Pacific region led cargo growth with an 8.4% increase in demand. IATA noted a clear shift in global cargo flows away from Asia–North America routes toward Asia–Europe, alongside steady growth within Asia and on Middle East–Asia corridors.

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“Air cargo in 2025 once again demonstrated its key role in supporting global supply chains. Even amid trade and geopolitical uncertainty, the industry was able to quickly adapt to changing demand flows.”

According to IATA, the 2025 results underline both the resilience of global aviation and the urgency of addressing supply-chain bottlenecks, fleet shortages, and long-term capacity expansion as demand continues to rise.