• African airline traffic fell 0.3% year-on-year in June

• Conflict between Israel and Iran weighs on global travel

• Global passenger demand up 2.6% in June, less than capacity growth

The armed conflict between Israel and Iran has intensified tensions in the Middle East, which were already affecting air traffic figures worldwide. This has also had an impact on African carriers.

According to the latest statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the passenger segment for African airlines contracted slightly in June, down 0.3% year-on-year. This figure also underperforms the 9.5% growth recorded in May 2025.

This level of activity in June nevertheless reveals mixed results when considering growth by region. Year-on-year declines were also seen among North American carriers (0.3%) and those in the Middle East (0.4%). By contrast, Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific posted positive performances, with increases of 9.3%, 2.8% and 7.2% respectively.

Worldwide, global traffic grew by 2.6% year-on-year. For Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, “this pace is lower than in previous months and reflects the disruptions associated with the military conflict in the Middle East. With demand growth falling short of the 3.4% increase in capacity, load factors were down 0.6 percentage points on their all-time highs.”

“At 84.5% worldwide, load factors nevertheless remain very high. And with a modest 1.8% capacity growth observed on August flights, load factors for the boreal summer are unlikely to stray far from their recent all-time highs,” he adds.

This article was initially reported in French by Henoc Dossa

Adapted in English by Ola Schad Akinocho