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It is 2025 continues to surprise with growth in the airline industry and October closed with a record in cargo and passengers transported.
The International Air Transport Association (THERE IT IS) has published its global data corresponding to October 2025, revealing a robust growth outlook in both the passenger transport and air cargo markets. Despite economic uncertainty and geopolitical challenges, The industry shows notable resilience heading into the end of the year.
Passenger transport: sustained growth
Total passenger demand (measurement in RPK) experienced an increase in 6.6% compared to October 2024. Airlines responded to this appetite for travel by increasing their capacity by 5.8%, which brought the global load factor to 84.6%.
Key points of the passenger market:
- International Market: It was the main engine, with an increase of 8.5%.
- Domestic Market: It grew more moderately, with a raise of the 3.4%.
- North American Recovery: After months of stagnation, North American airlines saw a rebound in 4.5% in international traffic.
Willie Walsh, General Director of THERE IT IS, highlighted:
«Trends for the rest of the year are encouraging: scheduled capacity will increase by 3.6% in November and a 4.7% in December. This points to strong demand for vacation and business travel to close deals at the end of the year.".
Regional performance:
- Pacific Asia: Led growth with impressive 10.9%, driven by China, Japan and Vietnam.
- middle East: recorded an increase in 10.7%, recovering from the geopolitical tensions of the previous year.
- Europe: Maintained solid growth 7.4%, with the highest load factor of all regions (86.5%).
- Latin America: Airlines in the region saw an increase in 7.2% on the demand, although the load factor fell slightly 84.6%.
Air cargo: record volumes
The air cargo market was not left behind, marking its eighth consecutive month of expansion. overall demand (measurement in CTK) went up a 4.1%, setting a new monthly volume record.
This growth occurs in a mixed economic context, where global industrial production rose by 3.7% (the fastest pace since March 2025), but export orders showed some weakness due to tariff uncertainty.
Adaptability to Tariffs A fascinating fact from October is how supply chains are adapting. While the Asia-North America trade route contracted for the sixth consecutive month, there was double digit growth within Asia, and on the routes that connect the Middle East and Europe.
"This changing growth pattern shows that air cargo is allowing global supply chains to adapt to the impact of US tariffs", Walsh noted..
Regional performance:
- Africa: It was the star of the month with a massive increase in 16.6% on the demand.
- Pacific Asia: grew a solid 8.3%.
- The Americas: Both North American and Latin American airlines suffered a contraction in 2.7% on load demand, weakest performance globally.
Prospects for closing 2025
The sector faces challenges such as the increase in 2.5% in the price of aviation fuel (jet fuel) and a tight diesel market. Nevertheless, Manufacturing confidence has improved slightly and capacity scheduled for the last two months of the year suggests the airline industry will play a crucial role in the peak holiday and trade season..
As he concludes THERE IT IS, Resilience of air travel demand is a “bright spot” that governments must care for, especially given the economic uncertainty expected for 2026.
