Middle East war drags global air travel demand lower in April

Global air passenger demand fell in April 2026, as the war in the Middle East caused a sharp drop in traffic among the region’s airlines and weighed heavily on the wider market, according to figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

According to IATA, total demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPK), fell by 3.4 per cent compared with April 2025. However, excluding the Middle East, global demand would have risen by 1.2 per cent, pointing to continued...