Global total air passenger demand fell by -1.7%, year-on-year (y-o-y), in June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has reported. (IATA is the global representative body for the airline industry.) If the Middle East was excluded, the decline was -0.6%. International demand was down -0.9%, but if the Middle East was discounted, it actually grew by 1.1%. Domestic demand fell by -3%.
Total capacity was down -1.3%, y-o-y, with international capacity declining by -0.6% and domestic capacity falling by -2.4%. The total global load factor in June was 84.2%, which was a -0.4 percentage point (ppt) decrease, y-o-y. The international load factor was 84.2% (-0.2 ppt, y-o-y) and the domestic figure was 84% (-0.5 ppt, y-o-y).
“This [contraction] is largely due to domestic market declines in China, the US and Japan, and weak but improving international demand for Middle East carriers,” explained outgoing IATA director-general Willie Walsh. “While Middle East performance improved, renewed tensions will not help the region’s recovery and the knock-on impact of rising fuel prices will continue to burden travellers with higher airfares.”
With regard to total demand, of IATA’s six regions, Africa had by far the strongest y-o-y growth in June, at 3.8%. Next came Latin America and the Caribbean, at 1.5%, and then Europe, at 0.8%. The other three regions experienced declines, with North America recording the smallest fall (-1.1%), followed by the Asia-Pacific (-2%) and the Middle East (-13.9%).
