Global air traffic fell by 0.8% in august 2026 affected by the situation in Middle East. Know the regional details according to data from the THERE IT IS.
Global air traffic fell by 0.8% at RPK during August 2026 compared to the same month of the previous year. The contraction responds directly to the interruption in the recovery of Middle East airlines.
Not including the Middle East, global passenger demand grew by 0.6%. Overall capacity increased by 0.3% year-on-year and the load factor was at 85.1%, which represents a drop of 0.9 percentage points.
Middle East causes traffic decline in August
Marie Owens Thomsen, chief economist of the THERE IT IS, noted that global connectivity showed general weakness in August. The impact of energy prices and geopolitical instability weigh on passengers' travel budgets.
The regions operated at different speeds during the eighth month of the year. Latin America and Africa led international growth with an increase in 6.7% on the demand.
- Latin America and the Caribbean: rising demand 6.7% international and capacity with an increase in 6.4%. The occupation reached 84.8%.
- Africa: rebound of 6.7% in international demand in the face of an increase in 8.3% on offer of seats.
- Europe: increase of 2.1% powered by the Europe-Asia corridor, that went up a 12.2%. Transatlantic routes fell 2.4%.
- North America: contraction of 1.7% in the international market and fall of 2.9% in the domestic sphere of the United States.
- Pacific Asia: descent of 0.1% international. Internal routes within Asia fell by 2.0%, while the Asia-North America corridor grew by 2.5%.
- Middle East: collapse of 14.2% in international demand due to the slowdown in post-conflict stabilization in the region.
Domestic markets
Domestic traffic fell 0.5% at the global level. The domestic market of China was strengthened with an increase in 5.8% thanks to the summer vacation season.
By contrast, India recorded a sharp drop in 7.5% in its domestic market. Japan and USA They also reported decreases in 2.0% and 2.9% respectively.
Airlines remain cautious ahead of October. Flight programs show growth in 2.0% in available seats.
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