In a statement, IATA said that total air traffic, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), rose 29.7% y-o-y in November 2023.

“Globally, traffic is now at 99.1% of November 2019 levels,” it said, adding that international traffic rose 26.4% compared to the same period in 2022.

IATA said the Asia-Pacific region continued to report the strongest year-on-year results, at 63.8%, with all regions showing improvement compared to the previous year. November 2023 international RPKs reached 94.5% of November 2019 levels.

IATA director-general Willie Walsh, however, noted that international travel remained 5.5% below pre-pandemic levels but the gap was rapidly closing.

“We are moving ever closer to surpassing the 2019 peak year for air travel. Economic headwinds are not deterring people from taking to the skies,” he said.

He also said that aviation’s rapid recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates just how important flying is to people and to businesses.

Walsh said that 2024 is expected to be the year when governments follow up on their own declarations and “finally deliver comprehensive policy measures to incentivise the rapid scaling up of sustainable aviation fuel production”.