The World of Air Transport in 2023
This year the level of reported data by ICAO Member States presented in the Annual Report of the Council achieved the exceptional level of 99.0 per cent of global coverage. It is important to note that ICAO official statistics present the highest level of reporting coverage compared to any other source of global aviation data. It shows once again the trust the Member States have in official reporting and their confidence in ICAO data.
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According to ICAO’s preliminary compilation of annual global statistics, the total number of passengers carried on scheduled services increased to 4.3 billion in 2023, which is 32.4 per cent higher than the previous year, while with the number of departures increasing to 35.3 million in 2023, an 18.7 per cent increase. Detailed air transport statistics appear on the Presentation of 2023 Air Transport Statistical Results page.
Passenger traffic (total scheduled revenue passenger-kilometres performed (RPKs))
Total increase: 62.3 per cent, equating to 5,889 billion RPKs
| Change by region: | |
| Europe: | 26.5 per cent of world traffic, posting an increase of 20.3 per cent |
| Africa: | 2.2 per cent of world traffic, posting an increase of 36.6 per cent |
| Middle East: | 9.8 per cent of world traffic, posting an increase of 40.2 per cent |
| Asia and Pacific: | 32.2 per cent of world traffic, posting a decline of 100 per cent |
| North America: | 23.8 per cent of world traffic, posting an increase of 15.9 per cent |
| Latin America and Caribbean: | 5.5 per cent of world traffic, posting an increase of 13.1 per cent |
International scheduled passenger traffic
Total increase: 44.4 per cent in RPKs
| Change by region: | |
| Europe: | 38.2 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 22.8 per cent |
| Africa: | 3.2 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 39.7 per cent |
| Middle East: | 15.9 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 41.6 per cent |
| Asia and Pacific: | 24.7 per cent of total RPK, posting a decline of 132.9 per cent |
| North America: | 13.5 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 30.5 per cent |
| Latin America and Caribbean: | 4.6 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 22.9 per cent |
Domestic scheduled passenger traffic
Total increase: 31.0 per cent in RPKs
| Change by region: | |
| Europe: | 9.5 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 7.6 per cent |
| Africa: | 0.7 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 19.9 per cent |
| Middle East: | 1.0 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 14.1 per cent |
| Asia and Pacific: | 43.1 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 78.9 per cent |
| North America: | 38.9 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 9.6 per cent |
| Latin America and Caribbean: | 6.8 per cent of total RPK, posting an increase of 5.0 per cent |
Available seat-kilometres (ASK) capacity
Total increase: 32.6 per cent, passenger load factor of 82.0 per cent
| Global share and load factor: | |
| Europe: | 25.7 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 84.7 per cent |
| Africa: | 2.4 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 73.0 per cent |
| Middle East: | 10.1 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 80.1 per cent |
| Asia and Pacific: | 33.0 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 80.1 per cent |
| North America: | 23.3 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 84.1 per cent |
| Latin America and Caribbean: | 5.5 per cent of total ASK, with passenger load factor of 82.4 per cent |
Freight traffic
Total millions of tonnes carried: 57.4 million
Increase of scheduled total freight traffic, expressed in terms of scheduled total freight tonne-kilometres performed (FTKs): 2.7 per cent
Decrease of total scheduled international freight traffic, expressed in terms of FTKs performed: 2.9 per cent
| And by region – | |
| Europe: | 25.7 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting a decrease of -1.6 per cent |
| Africa: | 2.8 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting an increase of 2.3 per cent |
| Middle East: | 16.0 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting an increase of 3.5 per cent |
| Asia and Pacific: | 38.2 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting an increase of 11.4 per cent |
| North America: | 14.2 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting a decrease of -7.4 per cent |
| Latin America and Caribbean: | 3.1 per cent of total FTKs performed, posting a decrease of -3.0 per cent |
Scheduled international freight capacity in 2023, expressed in available freight tonne-kilometres, was approximately 388 billion, an increase of 13.1 per cent compared to 2022. The scheduled international freight load factor in 2023 decreased to 50.7 per cent.
Operating profit of scheduled airlines of Member States
Estimated at about a positive 6.8 per cent of operating revenues, operating profit is expected to be around USD 61.3 billion in 2023 based on operating revenues of USD 902.3 billion.
A detailed variance analysis of changes in operating profits appears in the Presentation of 2023 Air Transport Statistical Results, Table 9.
Long-term air traffic forecasts
The post-COVID long-term forecasts scenarios developed by the Secretariat and the Multi-Disciplinary Working Group on Long-term Traffic Forecasts revolve around three scenarios (low, mid and high). In the mid scenario, the passenger traffic expressed in revenue passenger-kilometers is expected to grow at 4.5 per cent annually in the next 20 years.
Aircraft
The world’s major manufacturers delivered 1,263 new commercial aircraft in 2023 and recorded 3,408 new aircraft net orders. Book-to-bill ratios for two of the largest aircraft manufacturers reached 2.69 in 2023 while in 2022 it was 1.37.
Aviation safety
There were 66 aircraft accidents for scheduled commercial air transport operations in 2023, an increase from the 64 accidents reported by the Member States in 2022. This is according to an analysis of global accident data involving commercial air transport aircraft with a maximum certificated take-off mass of more than 5 700 kilograms. The number of fatalities in scheduled operations worldwide stood at 72 in 2023. The number of fatal accidents significantly decreased from seven in 2022 to one in 2023. The global accident rate was 1.87 accidents per million scheduled departures, versus 2.05 accidents per million scheduled departures in 2022.
Unlawful Interference
29 acts of unlawful interference were recorded. These included:
10 attacks on aircraft in flight
16 attacks on airports or other aviation facility
1 attacks using aircraft as a weapon
1 cyber-attacks endangering aviation safety
1 unlawful seizures of aircraft
and 0 other attacks.
Details concerning all 2023 events are available in the Acts of Unlawful Interference Database, which is accessible through ICAO’s secure website.