The region had the smallest market share with reference to RPK among the six regions in the world. RPK is passenger-kilometres flown on scheduled flights by paying passengers multiplied by seats per kilometre of aircraft capacity.

From the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is a group of 300 airlines that connects 83 percent of global air traffic, it was found that 30 per cent of European RPKs and 28.9 per cent in North American were recorded.

Air travel is growing rapidly in many parts of the world, including Asia-Pacific with a demand growth rate of 22.1 percent, Middle East with 9.8 percent and Latin America which has 6.4 per cent growth in demand for air travel tickets among others.

The report noted that, “Total traffic in March 2023 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 52.4 percent compared to March 2022. Globally, traffic is now at 88.0 percent of March 2019 levels.

“Domestic traffic for March rose 34.1 percent compared to the year-ago period. Total March 2023 domestic traffic was at 98.9 percent of the March 2019 level.

“International traffic climbed 68.9 percent against March 2022 with all markets recording healthy growth, led once again by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region. International RPKs reached 81.6 percent of March 2019 levels while the load factor at 81.3 percent exceeded the March 2019 level by 10.1 percentage points.”

Meanwhile, in reaction to the news, IATA's Director General Willie Walsh said, “The calendar year’s first quarter ended on a strong note for air travel demand. Domestic markets have been near their pre-pandemic levels for months. And for international travel two key waypoints were topped.

“First, demand increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to the previous month’s growth, to reach 81.6 percent of pre-COVID levels. This was led by a near-tripling of demand for Asia-Pacific carriers as China’s re-opening took hold. And efficiency is improving as international load factors reached 81.3 percent."