As clouds at 10,000 meters become more than just distant scenery and each takeoff carries people's expectations for distant horizons, the pulse of the aviation industry beats in sync with the global economy. What results did the global air passenger market deliver in 2025? Were load factors continuing to climb, or were there subtle shifts between regional markets? Let's look beyond the clouds for answers.
Annual Overview: Surging Demand Sets New Load Factor Record
In 2025, the global air passenger market demonstrated steady growth. Industry-wide Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK) increased by 5.3% year-over-year, while Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) grew slightly slower at 5.2%. This narrow gap directly drove passenger load factors (PLF) upward, reaching a historic high of 83.6%. This figure not only highlights the vitality of the aviation sector but also suggests that more efficient operational models are becoming mainstream.
Regional Analysis: Growth Engines Face Diverse Challenges
All global regions achieved passenger traffic growth in 2025, but at varying rates reflecting different market drivers and challenges.
- Africa: African carriers led global growth with 9.4% year-over-year growth, becoming the fastest-growing regional market. This success stems from Africa's internal economic development and expanding international routes. Capacity (ASK) grew 8.3%, slightly below demand growth, pushing load factors up to 75.3%.
- Asia-Pacific: The region followed closely with 7.8% RPK growth. As one of the world's largest aviation markets, Asia-Pacific's expansion significantly impacts global aviation. Emerging economies and growing middle classes continue driving robust travel demand.
- Latin America & Caribbean: Airlines here outperformed industry averages, supported by tourism recovery and growing intra-regional trade.
- Middle East: Carriers achieved above-average growth, leveraging strategic locations and developed hubs connecting East and West.
- Europe: European airlines matched industry averages with 5.3% RPK growth. This mature market shows stable expansion driven by leisure and business travel.
- North America: Growth lagged at just 0.4% RPK increase, potentially due to economic slowdowns, domestic competition, and limited international route expansion. Notably, ASK grew 2.0%, exceeding demand and pressuring load factors.
Capacity Constraints: Aircraft Delivery Delays
Global ASK rose 5.2% in 2025, slightly below RPK growth, indicating cautious capacity deployment amid aircraft delivery delays that have recently challenged airline planning, potentially leading to fare increases and traveler inconvenience.
Load Factors: Europe Leads, Africa Shows Promise
European carriers led with nearly 85% PLF (up 0.1 percentage points), reflecting market maturity and operational efficiency. African airlines showed the lowest PLF at 75.3% but gained 0.7 points, demonstrating significant growth potential as the market develops.
Domestic Markets: Slowing Growth with Regional Contrasts
Global domestic air travel growth slowed to 2.4% RPK in 2025 (down from 6.0% in 2024), signaling post-pandemic normalization.
- Brazil: Stood out with 11.1% RPK growth from economic recovery and tourism.
- Japan: Grew 4.8%, likely aided by government tourism stimulus.
- China: Slowed to 4.7% after 2024's rebound.
- India: Maintained 5.2% growth despite slowdown, with strong long-term potential.
- Australia: Growth eased to 2.2%.
- United States: Declined 0.6%, possibly from economic headwinds, competition, and fuel costs.
International Markets: Normalizing Growth Led by Asia-Pacific
Global international traffic grew 7.1% (down from 13.7% in 2024), indicating post-pandemic normalization while remaining a key growth driver. Asia-Pacific led expansion as borders reopened and economies developed, particularly intra-Asia routes (up 11.9%).
- Europe-Asia routes grew 11.8%
- Middle East-Asia rose 7.7%
- Asia-North America increased 8.1%
Intra-European routes remained the largest international market (up 6.1%), while transatlantic growth slowed to 2.8%.
December Performance: Slightly Slower Growth
December 2025 saw global RPK grow 5.6% (slightly below November's 5.8%), reaching 799 billion RPK. Seasonally adjusted, RPK was 5.3% above December 2024 but only 1.1% above November 2025.
Capacity (ASK) grew 5.9%, slightly exceeding demand and causing load factors to dip 0.2 points to 83.7%.
Regional Highlights:
- Africa: Fastest growth at 12.8% (international up 10.3%)
- Middle East: Up 9.6%
- Europe: Grew 7.6%, second only to Asia-Pacific in contribution
- Latin America/Caribbean: Up 6.8% from international growth and Brazil's domestic strength
- Asia-Pacific: Increased 6.3%, leading global contribution
- North America: Only decline (-0.1%), primarily from U.S. domestic contraction
Load Factor Changes:
- North America: Largest drop (-1.7 points to 82.9%)
- Africa: Declined 0.9 points to 75.6%
- Middle East: Best improvement (+1.0 point to 81.5%)
- Europe: Highest at 86.7% (+0.2 points)
Domestic Markets:
- Global domestic traffic grew 2.2%, with capacity up 2.7%, lowering load factors 0.4 points to 83.5%
- Brazil: Outstanding 11.0% growth (load factor 84.6%)
- China: Up 6.7% (load factor 81.9%)
- Australia: Grew 2.9% but capacity grew faster (load factor 82.2%)
- Japan: Increased 1.3% with capacity cuts boosting load factor to 79.8%
- India: Declined 3.5% but maintained 88.2% load factor
- United States: Fell 2.0% (load factor 82.5%)
International Markets:
- Global international traffic grew 7.7%, with capacity up 7.9%, slightly reducing load factors to 83.9% (-0.1 point)
- Africa: Fastest international growth at 10.3%, but capacity grew faster (load factor 74.9%)
- Asia-Pacific: Up 7.5% (load factor 83.6%)
- Europe: Grew 8.4% (highest load factor at 86.5%)
- Latin America/Caribbean: Increased 8.2% (load factor 82.6%)
- Middle East: Up 9.5% (load factor 81.6%)
- North America: Rose 3.5% (load factor 83.2%)
Asia-Pacific Routes: Growth Slows Amid Geopolitical Impacts
Key Asian international routes showed stable but slower December growth. Intra-Asia routes grew 5.9% (down from November's 10.0%). Notably, China-Japan routes plunged 34.0%, reflecting geopolitical tensions' impact on travel. Europe-Asia and Middle East-Asia routes remained strong at 12.5% and 11.2% growth respectively.
Americas Routes: Mixed Performance
All major Americas international routes grew in December but at varying rates. Transatlantic, Asia-North America, and North America-Central America routes slowed from November. Europe-South America growth dropped most noticeably to 5.4% (down 3.7 points).
North America-Central America saw the largest load factor drop (-2.3 points) from excess capacity, while Europe-Central America gained 1.9 points. North America-South America rebounded strongly to 6.8% growth (up 6.7 points from November).