African airlines grew passenger demand by 2.8% in April 2026 even as war in the Middle East caused total global air travel to contract by 3.4%, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported Thursday in Geneva.
The data, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK), shows Africa was one of only three regions to register demand growth in April alongside Latin America and Asia-Pacific, while the global market recorded its sharpest monthly decline in recent years. The destruction of Middle East air traffic was so severe that it pulled the worldwide figure negative despite positive performances elsewhere. Excluding the Middle East, global demand would have grown 1.2%.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh said: “The situation for air transport remains highly volatile.”
Middle Eastern carriers bore the full weight of the collapse, recording a 46.6% year-on-year fall in total demand and a 48.1% drop in international demand, as the ongoing Iran war continued to ground regional aviation. An uneasy ceasefire that came into effect during April slowed the pace of decline compared to March but did not reverse it. The region’s Passenger Load Factor (PLF) fell to 70.6%, a drop of 12.5 percentage points from April 2025.
Africa posted a load factor of 77.7%, up 0.6 percentage points year on year, with capacity growing 2.0%. The continent holds a 2.2% share of global RPKs, meaning its growth, while modest in absolute terms, reinforced its position as a resilient market amid the wider turbulence.
Latin American airlines posted the strongest performance of any region, with total demand up 5.0% and international demand surging 8.9%. Asia-Pacific airlines achieved a 3.0% increase in international demand, recording a record high April load factor of 87.5%. European carriers saw international demand rise 0.9%, supported by a 15.3% jump in direct Europe to Asia traffic as travellers rerouted away from Middle Eastern hub connections.
North American carriers saw flat international demand, while domestic markets globally were also flat, with growth in Brazil, China and Japan offset by falls in Australia, India and the United States.
Jet fuel costs more than doubled in April compared to a year earlier, and IATA said forward schedule data indicates airlines are already reducing their offerings in the coming months as they balance surging costs against weakening demand.
