Yesterday was the busiest day for commercial aviation that we’ve ever tracked. We tracked 134,386 commercial flights on 6th July and today is shaping up to be another busy day. More than 20,000 flights are in the air right now.
The number of global commercial aviation set an all-time high on July 6. Coinciding with the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth. According to live flight tracker FlightRadar24, July 6 was the busiest day for the tracking agency, with 134,386 commercial flights recorded.
The flight-tracking agency noted that they use an average estimate of 100 people per flight. This would suggest that the number of passengers on that particular day would have exceeded 13 million.
10,000 of recorded July 6 flights as per FlightRadar24 were private jets. The agency also showed almost no commercial flight activity over several locations across the world. Including Ukraine and Sudan, both of which are currently experiencing heavy armed conflict, as well as a portion of China.
One wonders what the demand for flights would have been without the prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. But according to new figures released by The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the aviation sector is very close to reaching a full recovery.
The growth in air travel demand is continuing, IATA reported last week, releasing its May 2023 traffic figures. Total traffic in May (measured in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rose 39.1 per cent compared to May of last year (which, in some parts of the world, was a period still marred by travel restrictions).
Globally, traffic is now at 96.1 per cent of May 2019 levels. As well, domestic traffic for May rose 36.4 per cent compared to the year-ago period, IATA said. Total May 2023 domestic traffic was 5.3 per cent above the May 2019 level. The total industry load factor rose to 81.8 per cent, led by North American carriers at 86.3 per cent.
“We saw more good news in May. Planes were full, with the average load factors reaching 81.8 per cent,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, in a statement.
“Domestic markets reported growth on pre-pandemic levels. And, heading into the busy northern summer travel season, international demand reached 90.8 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.”
