The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported that global passenger traffic data for August shows that demand in revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) climbed 4.6% compared to the year-ago period – down from 6.4% in July.

 

At the same time, August capacity rose by 5.8% and the load factor slipped by 0.9 percentage points to 83.8%.

 

“Growth in passenger demand dipped to 4.6%. While that’s disappointing compared to the previous month’s performance, it is still healthy growth. And although terrorist attacks in Europe have dampened demand, the impact is ebbing,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL DEMAND +4.7% IN AUGUST

In terms of international passenger markets, August saw demand rise by 4.7% compared to August 2015. All regions recorded increases, but growth was dominated by airlines in the Middle East. Capacity climbed 6.5%, causing the load factor to slide 1.4 percentage points to 83.9%.

 

Asia-Pacific airlines’ August traffic climbed 5.6% compared to the year-ago period. Capacity rose 6.8% and load factor slipped down 0.9 percentage points to 81.9%. IATA says there are signs of Asian travellers continuing to be put-off by recent terrorism in Europe.

 

Traffic on Europe-Asia routes grew just 1.5% in July, the most recent month for which route-specific figures are available, while international traffic growth on routes within Asia accelerated to 9.9%.

 

IATA adds that European carriers saw August demand climb 3.3% year-on-year. European traffic continues to be affected by the impact of terrorism, however, it says there are indications this may be easing. Capacity rose 5.1%, which caused load factor to drop 1.6 percentage points to 86.6% – which was still the highest among regions.

 

Middle Eastern carriers posted a 10.3% traffic increase in August, while capacity climbed 13.7%, resulting in a 2.5 percentage point fall in load factor to 81.2%.

 

 

WELCOME BOOST FOR LATIN AMERICAN CARRIERS

North American airlines’ international demand rose 1.8% compared to August a year ago. However, seasonally-adjusted traffic has risen at an annualised rate of 7% since March, supported by transpacific demand and leisure routes to Central America and the Caribbean. Capacity rose 3.8%, causing load factor to drop 1.7 percentage points to 85.3%.

 

Latin American airlines experienced a 6.7% demand rise compared to the same month last year, helped by strong demand on international routes within the region, spurred in part by the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil. Capacity increased by 4.0% and load factor rose 2.1 percentage points to 84.0%. Carriers in this region were the only ones to see a rise in load factor compared to the year-ago period.

 

African airlines’ traffic climbed 1.8% in August. International growth has tracked sideways since the start of the year, reflecting challenges in the major economies. Capacity rose 3.1%, with the result that load factor slipped 1.0 percentage point to 75.6%, lowest among regions.

 

By contrast, demand for domestic travel climbed 4.3% in August compared to August 2015, which IATA says was slightly exceeded by a 4.4% increase in capacity. Load factor slid 0.1 percentage points to 83.6%.

 

All markets reported demand increases with the exception of Brazil and Russia, with India and China reporting double-digit rises.