Strong passenger growth in August

11 Oct 2017 2049 | Business & Trade Fairs

SINGAPORE Passenger demand grew 7.2% in August, according to the International Air Transport Association’s latest global traffic data, measured in total revenue passenger km, or RPKs.

At the same time, the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted traffic has eased from that seen at the end of 2016.

August capacity (available seat km or ASKs) increased by 6.3%, and load factor climbed 0.7% percentage points to 84.5%, which was just below the record for the month set in 2015.

“Following the strong summer traffic season in the northern hemisphere, 2017 is on course to be another year of strong traffic growth. However, some important demand drivers are easing, particularly lower fares. As we head towards the end of the year we still expect growth to continue, but potentially at a slower pace,” said, IATA’s director general and CEO, Alexandre de Juniac.

August international passenger demand rose 7.0% compared to August 2016. All regions recorded increases, led by airlines in Latin America. Capacity climbed 6.1%, and load factor edged up 0.8 percentage points to 84.5%.

European carriers saw August demand climb 6.9% year-to-year, which was a slowdown from the 7.9% growth recorded in July. International traffic on routes within Europe has slid in recent months, in seasonally-adjusted terms, despite a strengthening regional economic backdrop.

Traffic conditions on the Europe-Asia route have also softened on a seasonally-adjusted basis. Capacity rose 5.5%, and load factor climbed 1.2 percentage points to 88.3%, which was the highest among regions.

Asia-Pacific airlines’ August traffic increased 8.6% compared to the year-ago period, which was an acceleration compared to the 6.6% rise in July.

However, the same trend of softening demand growth on routes within the region was apparent. Capacity rose 8.3% and load factor inched up 0.2 percentage points to 81.4%.

Middle Eastern carriers posted a 5.5% traffic increase in August, well below the five-year average pace of 11.1%. The Middle East-to-North America market in particular has been hit by a combination of factors, including the now lifted cabin ban on large portable electronic devices, as well as a wider impact from the proposed travel bans to the US. Traffic growth on the segment was already slowing in early-2017, in conjunction with an easing in the pace of growth of nonstop services flown by the largest Middle Eastern airlines. Capacity increased 5.1%, with load factor rising 0.3 percentage points to 81.4%.