According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), ongoing conflicts in West Asia have caused global air passenger demand to decline by 3.4 percent year-on-year in April 2026, based on revenue passenger kilometers (RPK).
However, IATA explained that excluding the West Asian market, overall demand recorded a modest increase of 1.2 percent in the same period.
In a statement issued late Thursday, IATA also reported that total capacity measured by available seat kilometers (ASK) decreased by 2.9 percent year-on-year.
As a result, the flight load factor stood at 83.1 percent, marking a decrease of 0.4 percentage points compared to April 2025. Specifically, international demand was reported to have decreased by 5.3 percent year-on-year in April 2026, but if West Asia is excluded, demand in the international market was found to have increased by 1.9 percent year-on-year.
According to IATA, in the international sector, flight capacity shrank by 5.1 percent year-on-year while load factor stood at 83.9 percent, showing a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to April 2025.
As for domestic demand, IATA informed that its performance remained flat or unchanged compared to the same period in the previous year, although capacity increased by 0.8 percent year-on-year. The load factor for domestic flights recorded 81.9 percent, down 0.7 percentage points compared to April 2025.
IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, explained that the 46.6 percent decline in demand recorded by airlines in West Asia due to the conflict in the region was very serious, dragging down total global demand by 3.4 percent in April 2026.
Walsh added that the situation for air transport remains very uncertain, especially with the cost of jet fuel more than doubling in April, thus leading to a surge in airfares.
Future flight schedule data shows that airlines are reducing supply over the next few months as a measure to offset significant cost increases alongside weak demand.
