What Is Airline Load Factor? Why Planes Are So Full Now
Airline load factor is the share of seats an airline fills. How it's calculated, why it hit a record 83.6% in 2025, and what a full plane doesn't tell you.
Active Flights · Blog
#load-factor
3 articles tagged #load-factor.
Articles
Softer demand, fuller planes: reading IATA's mid-2026 numbers
In May 2026 global air travel demand actually fell year-on-year — yet load factors hit a record for the month. That apparent contradiction says a lot about how tight, and how regional, the 2026 network has become.
The 2026 capacity squeeze: fuller planes, thinner margins, and the pressure on schedule data
Airlines are flying at record load factors on a ~3.9% net margin while new aircraft stay scarce. When every seat counts this much, the schedule is where efficiency is won or lost.