GENEVA, Switzerland: Global air travel demand fell 1.7% year on year in June 2026 as Middle East disruptions and weak domestic markets outweighed growth elsewhere, IATA said on July 30.
The decline marked the third consecutive monthly contraction. Excluding Middle Eastern carriers, worldwide traffic fell by a milder 0.6%, according to the official IATA market report.
The International Air Transport Association measures demand in revenue passenger kilometres. Traffic reached 801 billion passenger kilometres, while capacity fell 1.3% and the global load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 84.2%.
International demand declined 0.9%. However, it increased 1.1% when IATA excluded Middle Eastern airlines.
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Middle East carriers recorded a 14% fall in international traffic. Capacity dropped 11%, pushing their load factor down 2.6 percentage points to 76.3%.
Their total passenger traffic fell 13.9%, compared with a 28.8% decline in May. IATA linked the improvement to gradually normalising operations and a lower comparison base after military strikes disrupted traffic in June 2025.
Domestic demand contracted 3%. Traffic fell 5.2% in China, 3.8% in Japan and 1.2% in the United States. Brazil recorded 0.9% growth, while Australia remained flat.
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IATA Director General Willie Walsh said renewed Middle East tensions and rising fuel prices could slow the region’s recovery and raise passenger fares, according to Trade Arabia.
Africa led international growth at 6.7%, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean at 3.5%. European demand rose 1.5%, while Europe-Asia traffic increased 11%.
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IATA expects global scheduled seat capacity to grow 1.3% in July and 2.6% in August. However, it projects Middle East capacity to remain below year-earlier levels in both months.
