by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 8:50 AM ET, Thu January 8, 2026
Total air travel demand was up 5.7 percent this November, 2025, compared to the same month in 2024, showing that the global travel industry isn’t slowing down any time soon.
New data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) found that total capacity during the month had also increased 5.4 percent, and that load factors reached a record high for November, which, beyond domestic travel over the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday period, is typically a much lower month for travel.
Domestic travel demand globally grew 2.7 percent from last year, but international demand, like during the rest of the year, is far outpacing domestic, at 7.7 percent more. International capacity also grew 7.1 percent in November. International revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) grew 7.7 percent year-over-year.
Domestic demand in the United States dropped this month, and was the only major market to report a fall in domestic travel demand.
So what regions have been growing?
All of them. Air travel in the Asia-Pacific saw a 9.3 percent growth in demand, Europe saw a 6.8 percent growth, Latin American airlines saw a 4.4 percent growth and Middle Eastern airlines saw a 9.6 percent growth.
Finally, North American airlines also experienced a boost in November, 2025, reporting a 4 percent increase in demand, though it’s seen ten consecutive months of year-over-year declines in load factors—no doubt brought by economic uncertainty and geopolitical struggles.
The region seeing the most growth? Africa, reporting a 11.2 percent increase in demand from November, 2024. Capacity has also grown 8.5 percent, and load factors are up, showing an increase in travel to and from the continent.
“November 2025 saw continued strong demand for air travel with year-on-year growth of 5.7%,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General. “Load factors reached a new record of 83.7% for the month as airlines continued to satisfy growing passenger demand amid continuing capacity constraints stemming from challenges in the aerospace supply chain.
“The new year’s resolution for the manufacturing sector must be to increase production to meet the needs of their airline customers. The backlog of more than 17,000 aircraft orders that we reached in 2025 must be reduced in 2026,” said Walsh.
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