According to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global demand for passenger air travel in August 2026 decreased by 0.8% compared to the same month last year.
Excluding Middle Eastern airlines, demand showed a growth of 0.6%. Available capacity increased by 0.3%, while the passenger load factor stood at 85.1%, which is 0.9 percentage points lower than the figure for August 2025.
Demand is measured in revenue passenger kilometers. On international routes, demand fell by 0.9%, but excluding Middle Eastern carriers, it rose by 1.3%. International capacity remained at the level of the previous year, and the load factor reached 85%.
Domestic demand decreased by 0.5%, despite a 0.7% increase in capacity, with the domestic flight load factor at 85.3%.
Mary Owens Thomson, Senior Vice President of IATA for Sustainability and Chief Economist, noted that the overall global drop in air travel demand by 0.8% compared to August 2025 was due to the disruption in the recovery of Middle Eastern airlines.
She added that demand among regional airlines was 14.6% lower than the previous year, which contradicted the improving trend. Excluding Middle Eastern carriers, air travel demand grew by 0.6% in August, which was half the growth rate recorded in July.
Thomson also emphasized that, with the exception of some key markets such as China's domestic market, overall global connectivity weakened in August. She suggested that in the coming months it will become clear whether travelers are cutting back on spending due to reduced purchasing power caused by rising energy prices, and whether ongoing geopolitical instability might deter them from traveling.
Meanwhile, the October schedule indicates cautious optimism, as the number of available seats increased by 2%.
Middle Eastern airlines recorded the sharpest drop in international demand—14.2%. Their capacity fell by 9%, and the load factor decreased by 4.8 percentage points to 79.1%.
According to IATA, the traffic decline intensified in August, disrupting the gradual stabilization observed after the war with Iran in February. The traffic drop on the Middle East-Asia route accelerated to 11.7% compared to 8.6% in July.
International traffic carried by Asia-Pacific airlines decreased by 0.1%. Intra-Asia traffic fell by 2%, with capacity on this route shrinking for the fourth consecutive month. Simultaneously, traffic between Asia and North America increased by 2.5%. European carriers increased international traffic by 2.1%.
Traffic between Europe and Asia continued its steady growth, increasing by 12.2%, while transatlantic traffic fell by 2.4% due to lower traffic from several countries, including the UK and France.
Demand among North American airlines dropped by 1.7%. Latin American and African carriers each increased international traffic by 6.7%.
Domestic markets showed mixed trends. Traffic in China rose by 5.8%, supported by summer demand, while Brazil registered a growth of 4.3%, and Australia saw a rise of 2.3%. However, domestic traffic in India sharply declined by 7.5%, and in the United States by 2.9%, while Japan showed a decline of 2%, achieving the highest domestic load factor at 90%.
IATA clarified that all figures presented are preliminary and subject to revision. The association represents over 370 airlines that account for about 85% of global air traffic.