Demand for air travel in March was up 2.1% compared with March 2025, according to the latest report from the International Air Transport Association. In other highlights:

• Total capacity, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), decreased 1.7% year on year. The load factor was 83.6% (up 3.1 percentage points compared with March 2025).
• International demand fell 0.6% compared with March 2025. Capacity was down 6.2% year on year, and the load factor was 84.1% (up 4.7 percentage points compared with March 2025). The overall decline in international traffic was led by a 60.8% fall in traffic by carriers in the Middle East.
• Domestic demand increased 6.5% compared with March 2025. Capacity increased 5.6% year on year. The load factor was 83% (up 0.7 percentage points compared with March 2025).
• North American carriers saw a 3.7% year-on-year increase in demand. Capacity increased 0.9% year on year, and the load factor was 85.5% (up 2.3 percentage points compared with March 2025). Transatlantic travel grew 3.3%, and the growth rate between Asia and North America more than doubled compared with February.

Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said, “Demand for air travel continued to grow in March despite disruptions in the Middle East.” He continued, “The nearly 61% decline in international traffic by carriers in the Middle East did, however, restrain global growth to 2.1%. Outside of the Middle East demand grew by 8%.

“Everybody’s watching what’s happening with jet fuel — both supply and pricing,” said Walsh. On the supply side, he said, “over the next months we could see shortages in parts of the world with high dependence on supplies from the Gulf, especially Asia and Europe.”

 The extraordinarily high cost of jet fuel, said Walsh, is increasingly reflected in ticket prices. While this has not impacted March traffic or forward bookings to date, he said, it remains to be seen at what point high prices could start to shift passenger behavior.

So far, said Walsh, the summer is shaping up to be a normally busy time for travel. That’s positive news, he said, but airline resilience is being tested, and stabilizing the supply and price of fuel is crucial. In the meantime, said Walsh, “it’s important for regulators to be prepared to grant airlines some flexibility on slots considering the extraordinary circumstances of airspace capacity restrictions and potential fuel rationing.”