IATA Reports Air Passenger Growth Rate Slowed in August
IATA Reports Air Passenger Growth Rate Slowed in August
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that international scheduled passenger traffic results for August increased 6.4 percent. That was slower than the 9.5 percent increase in July, and was partially distorted by the comparison to August 2009, by which time markets were already expanding rapidly in a post-recession rebound. When adjusted for seasonality, traffic volumes for passenger traffic fell by 1 percent and cargo by 0.8 percent compared to July.
Capacity increases in passenger markets are accelerating. Since December 2009, air travel volumes have expanded by 4.3 percent while capacity has risen by 6 percent. Passenger load factors remain high (81.6 percent), but when adjusted for seasonal fluctuation this amounts to a drop of 1.5 percentage points compared to the February 2010 peak. Global passenger traffic in August was 2 percent above pre-recession levels of early 2008.
Asia-Pacific carriers recorded a demand increase of 6.2 percent. While this is still a comparatively strong performance, the region’s airlines carried a similar seasonally adjusted volume of traffic in August as they did in January indicating a leveling off of the strong gains recorded throughout 2009.
European carriers recorded a 5 percent growth in demand for August when compared to the previous year. Most of the growth that is supporting August’s 5 percent year-on-year expansion has come during 2010. Demand improvements are being supported by inbound traffic on the back of the weak euro. Business travel has also been given a boost by a revival in exports.
North American carriers recorded a 5.3 percent improvement compared to the previous August. This is a similar pattern to Europe’s carriers with most of the demand improvement having materialized during 2010 and coinciding with a weakening of the U.S. dollar enticing inbound leisure travel and stronger business travel in both directions.
Latin American carriers saw the largest dip in demand growth -- from 15 percent in July to 8.7 percent in August. The bankruptcy of Mexicana airlines affected about 1 million passengers and slightly distorted these numbers. Nonetheless, passenger demand in Latin America has leveled off in 2010 after robust growth in 2009.
Middle East carriers recorded demand that was 12.3 percent ahead of August 2009 levels. This is down from the 16.5 percent recorded for July. The shifting of Ramadan into August is partially responsible for the slowdown. It was the only region in which capacity expansion of 13.0 percent outstripped demand.
Africa’s carriers recorded growth of 10.8 percent slightly ahead of a capacity expansion of 9.0 percent. Economies in this region are still delivering robust growth. This is helping to generate further growth in business travel in the region, which is supporting the growth of African airlines passenger business.
