Airlines see strong passenger traffic growth

The global trade organization of airlines is expecting overall strong passenger traffic growth in 2017, with demand up by 7.2 percent in August this year.

The figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), based on total revenue passenger kilometers, also showed that August airline capacity rose 6.3 percent, keeping pace with growing traffic. Airline load factor, which measures demand against available capacity, was up 0.7 percentage points to 84.5 percent for August.

“Following the strong summer traffic season in the Northern hemisphere, 2017 is on course to be another year of strong traffic growth,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general and CEO, said in a statement.

“However, some important demand drivers are easing, particularly lower fares. As we head toward the end of the year we still expect growth to continue, but potentially at a slower pace,” he added,

International passenger demand during the period jump 7 percent in August 2017 from year-ago level.
“All regions recorded increases, led by airlines in Latin America,” IATA noted. Overall capacity rose 6.1 percent, while load factor hit 84.5 percent, up 0.8 percentage points.

IATA said Latin American carriers saw traffic higher by 9.3 percent in August.

“Traffic on the North-South America route has recovered in recent months, helped in part by signs of ongoing recovery in Brazil, the region’s largest economy,” IATA said.

It was followed by Asia-Pacific airlines, which saw traffic higher by 8.6 percent year-on-year in August. IATA noted that capacity here was up 8.3 percent while load factor rose 0.2 percentage points to 81.4 percent.

Domestic travel also remained strong, with demand growth at 7.6 percent in August. All markets posted demand increases with the exception of Australia, IATA noted. —MIGUEL R. CAMUS