The International Air Transport Association (IATA) , a body for global airlines, at the weekend, released global passenger traffic results for April showing robust demand growth compared to April 2014.
The figures show Total Revenue Passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 5.9 percent, April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 6.1 percent, and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage points to 79.4 percent.
Domestic demand grew by 7.2 percent, outpacing international demand which grew by 5.2 percent compared to April 2014.
“Demand for connectivity remains strong. That’s positive news. But the performance of the industry is multi-tiered. Middle East and Asia-Pacific based carriers led with growth well above the 5.9 percent average, while carriers in Europe and the Americas were below it. And African airlines reported a contraction compared to the previous year,” Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director general, said.
African airlines’ traffic fell 3.2 percent in April year-to-year, while capacity dropped 5.0 percent, resulting in a 1.3 percentage point rise in load factor to 67.5 percent.
According to Tyler, ‘negative economic developments in parts of the continent, including Nigeria, which relies heavily on oil revenues, are likely contributing to the depressed results’.
Asia-Pacific airlines’ April traffic jumped 9.0 percent compared to the year-ago period. Capacity rose 6.0 percent and load factor surged 2.2 percentage points to 78.3 percent.
“To date the sharp reversal in regional trade activity after strong gains in late 2014 has not had an adverse impact on business-related international air travel”, he said..
European carriers experienced a 3.7 percent demand increase in April versus April 2014. Capacity rose 4.7 percent and load factor declined 0.8 percentage points to 80.7 percent, still the highest among the regions for the month. Although signs are that a positive response to the European Central Bank stimulus has faltered owing to firming in the Euro and oil prices, economic stimulus is helping ease downward pressure on demand.
Middle East carriers’ demand climbed 8.2 percent in April but this was exceeded by a 13.3 percent jump in capacity with the result that load factor dropped 3.6 percentage points to 77.2 percent.
Economies in the region are reasonably well positioned to withstand the plunge in oil revenues and regionally-based carriers continue to gain market-share.
North American airlines had just a 0.7 percent rise in traffic compared to April a year ago.
According to IATA , United States of America economic growth turned negative in the first quarter of 2015 while the stronger dollar is likely hampering inbound leisure travel. Capacity rose 4.1 percent t and load factor fell 2.6 percentage points to 78.1 percent.
Sade Williams
