Another successful Airline Economics Growth Frontiers Asia Pacific conference closes
2nd November 2017
Giovanni Bisignani noted that international passenger load factors lifted 0.8% from May 2010 to 75.8% in May this year. The aviation sector remains positive as international airfreight volumes and passenger traffic grew 1.2% and 1.8% respectively. “These help to alleviate some of the pressure on profits from continued high fuel prices,” said Bisignani, who noted there are “risks associated with political unrest in the Middle East and the European currency crisis.” IATA's forecast of a $4 billion worldwide industry profit for the full year was reaffirmed but there was a warning that margins would be tight at best.
Latin America was the fastest RPK growth zone, where a 21.3% increase in international traffic compared to May 2010 was “a consequence of strong economic growth and increased travel and trade flows to North America and across the Pacific,” according to IATA. Europe witnessed a 10.9% increase in international traffic; Middle East grew 7.8%; Asia/Pacific 4.7%; North America 4.5%; and Africa 1.1%.
IATA said collective May domestic traffic rose 4.8% year-over-year on a 2% increase in capacity. System-wide May traffic (domestic and international combined) heightened 6.8% year-over-year on a 5.8% hike in capacity.