Welcome to the Air4casts Traffic Tracker, a monthly update on the latest air passenger data actuals gathered exclusively for DFNI by Air4casts and Airports Council International (ACI).
May is the first month since January where there is a clear-cut comparison possible with results from 2024. Leap years and a moveable Easter had a distinct impact on the February to April global picture. In May total global air passenger traffic was 2.5% ahead of last year and 8.5% larger than the previous high point in May 2019.
International Airports
Global international air passenger traffic drove the May results with an almost 5% increase over last year and a double digit 10.8% uplift over May 2019.
Airports in Africa performed especially well in May when compared to 2019. Several North African airports are dramatically larger than they were pre-pandemic and the region’s respectable 6.1% year on year improvement is in line with the Middle East and comfortably ahead of Europe and Latin America.
North America’s international airports declined by 1.3% points in May when compared with May 2024. There were negatives at some major airports in both Canada and the USA, but the declines were limited with several airports in the USA still managing to post respectable year on year increases.
Europe’s international airports posted a steady 4.3% point increase compared with last May and were nearly 5% ahead of 2019, bringing growth in line with longer term trends.
Airports in Asia/Pacific remain in recovery mode with a close to 9% improvement on last year and a comfortable 1.7% uplift over 2019.
Key International Markets
Japan and China were two of the brightest stars of the global May picture. Japan’s airports together soared by nearly a quarter over May 2024 and are 8% ahead of 2019.
China, at last, has moved into positive territory when measured against 2019. This is the first month that collectively the country’s international airports are ahead of their pre-pandemic international passenger levels.
Elsewhere Brazil continued its robust growth while progress at India and Turkey’s airports has steadied somewhat, although both countries are massively ahead of 2019.
Although the USA declined in May, mainstream press reports of an international travel meltdown are somewhat exaggerated. The May decline was minimal at 0.2 of a percentage point. Americans themselves are keeping the numbers afloat.
Domestic Airports
Domestic air travel in the dominant Asia/Pacific and North American markets was down in May, and this was the driver of the minimal 0.3% year on year global domestic growth.
Travellers taking domestic flights in Latin America increased by 8% in May while in Europe the familiar pattern of decline continued. Globally however the giant domestic air passenger market remains some 6% points ahead of pre-pandemic.
All data comes from Air4casts’ daily updated airport actuals programme in conjunction with ACI (Airports Council International).
