On July 23, Flightradar24 recorded 153,359 commercial flights worldwide within 24 hours – the busiest day ever recorded, well above the previous record set in 2023.
That figure – 16,134 more flights than the old record – also sets the tone for the entire month of July, as global demand for air travel rose by 0.2% that month compared to July 2025, marking the highest revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) level ever recorded in a July.
Resilient recovery
The figures are remarkable, given, among other things, the high-ticket prices resulting from the war in the Middle East. The slight 0.2% increase is also significant because it marks a turning point: global air traffic stabilized in July, following three months of decline due to the war in Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
As a result, the absolute number of travelers worldwide remains a historic high, and according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which released the figures and has 378 member airlines, the good news doesn’t stop there: August promises to be even better.
The record for passenger traffic in a single month was set in August of last year. But there’s a good chance that record will be broken as well, since there were more flights this August, with an expected 1.9% increase.
Possible record number of passengers in 2026
Despite higher fuel costs, airspace disruptions, and longer detour routes due to the conflict, the desire to travel remains strong. However, there are regional differences.
For example, travel volume for Middle Eastern airlines declined further in July (-10% year over year), while the Asia-Pacific region saw growth again after two weaker months. The recovery of the Chinese domestic market drove the growth in domestic air travel. North America, however, lagged somewhat behind.
As a result, airlines from Latin America (+6.1%), Africa (+5.2%), Europe (+3.1%), and the Asia-Pacific region (+1.0%) emerged as the winners of this peak season.
IATA expects airlines to carry approximately 5.2 billion passengers in 2026 – a record for a full year. The industry’s projected net profit is approximately $41 billion. According to IATA, 58% of tourists who cross a national border do so by plane.
And what about climate change?
This unchecked growth – IATA members forecast a 2.9% increase in capacity for September compared to the same month in 2025 – does, however, raise serious questions about the industry’s responsibility for climate change and travelers’ engagement with the issue.
“The growth of the aviation sector, and in particular high-emission flights, is not compatible with what the planet needs,” writes the Brussels-based think tank Transport & Environment following an exceptionally hot and dry summer in Europe.
The companies respond with a simple argument: they would like to use sustainable fuels from non-fossil sources, but those SAFs are simply not available on the market.
Although they also use this as a shield of sorts, it shifts responsibility outside the sector. In contrast, the sector itself continues to ramp up its use of fossil fuels, maximizes profits, and does not consider any voluntary volume reductions to limit its climate impact.
Even if more SAFs were available, airlines would have to pay significantly more, which conflicts with the strict cost discipline they are currently implementing to keep shareholders happy.
