Latin America leads global air traffic recovery, IBA insights show

IBA, the leading aviation market intelligence and consultancy company today published its monthly Aviation Industry Barometer for September 2022, showing that Latin America is leading the global recovery, having surpassed pre-pandemic capacity levels since May this year, with flight capacity for September 2022 exceeding 2019 levels by 2%.

Intelligence from IBA Insight reveals, however, that the recovery in monthly global passenger flights fell back by 2% in September 2022, with flight capacity down to 81% relative to pre-pandemic levels.

IBA’s Aviation Industry Barometer for September 2022 indicates that:

• Overall, there were approximately 2.42 million commercial passenger flights in September 2022, compared to 2.64 million in August 2022, while 2.07 million flights were recorded in September 2021.
• Latin America is leading the global recovery surpassing pre-pandemic capacity levels since May this year, with flight capacity for September 2022 exceeding 2019 levels by 2%.
  
• The recovery in Asia Pacific flight capacity took a hit during September due to another Covid outbreak across China, with capacity levels at a -35% variance to 2019 levels.
  
• There were 113 commercial aircraft deliveries in September 2022, representing a month-on-month increase of 52% compared to August 2022, and a year-on-year gain of 33% compared to September 2021.
  
• Freighter deliveries remain exclusive to Boeing, with four aircraft delivered in September – two 777Fs and two 767-300F aircraft, going to a mixture of operators.