Global airline capacity continues growth despite Asia LAG, IBA insights show

IBA, the leading aviation market intelligence and consultancy company, has today published its monthly Aviation Industry Barometer for January 2023, showing that there were almost half a million more global commercial passenger flights last month compared to January 2022.

Using data from its Insight intelligence platform, IBA’s Aviation Industry Barometer for January 2023 reveals that:

• Overall, there were approximately 2.47 million global commercial passenger flights in January 2023, compared to 2.33 million in December 2022, while 2 million flights were recorded in January 2022.

• Global passenger capacity reached 85% of pre-pandemic ASKs in January 2023 - an improvement of +3% compared to December 2022.

• Most regions are now trending within 90% - 100% of pre-pandemic levels with the exception of Asia, which has seen a slower road to recovery.

• Asia Pacific flight capacity stood at 74% of 2019 levels during January 2023, up from 62% in December 2022.

• The removal of China’s zero-Covid policy restrictions should continue to spur capacity recovery in the Asia Pacific region during the first half of 2023 and allow global capacity to reach pre-pandemic levels sooner than previously anticipated.

• There were 66 commercial aircraft deliveries in January 2023, representing a year-on-year gain of 12% compared to January 2022.