IATA: Jul-2017 shows record load factors and strong but moderating demand growth

7 September, 2017

IATA released (06-Sep-2017) its statistics for international passenger demand for Jul-2017:

  • Global: Traffic grew 6.8% year-on-year, while capacity climbed 5.5%, and load factor edged up 0.5 percentage points to 84.6%. Growth was a slow-down compared to the 7.6% growth recorded in Jun-2016;
  • Europe: Traffic up 7.5%, down from 8.8% in Jun-2017. Capacity rose 5.9%, and load factor climbed 1.3 ppts to 88.7%, which was the highest among the regions. The economic backdrop in Europe has strengthened; however, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the upward growth in travel demand has moderated sharply since Feb-2017;
  • Asia Pacific: Traffic up 5.9%, a deceleration compared to Jun-2017 growth of 8.8%. As with Europe, carriers in the Asia Pacific region are seeing a slowing of demand growth. Capacity increased 6.7% and load factor slipped 0.6 ppts to 81.0%;
  • Middle East: Traffic up 4.5%, an acceleration from the 3.6% in Jun-2017, but was still well off the region's five-year average pace of 11.2%. Capacity grew 3.6% and load factor rose 0.7 ppts to 81.5%. Middle East-North America market has been affected by a combination of factors in 2017, including the recently-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 Middle East-US route was already slowing in early 2017, in line with a moderation in the pace of expansion of nonstop services by the largest Middle Eastern airlines;
  • North America: Traffic up 3.5%, down from 4.4% growth in Jun-2017 but still ahead of the regional five-year average pace (2.9%). Capacity rose 3.8% and load factor slipped 0.3 ppts to 85.9%. Outbound travel is being supported by the relatively solid economic backdrop in North America, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that inbound demand is being negatively influenced by the additional security measures in place for travel to the US;
  • Latin America: Traffic up 10.5%, the strongest growth among regions. Capacity increased 10% and load factor climbed 0.4 percentage points to 84.9%. International volumes between North and Central America continue to strongly trend upward while traffic on the North-South America market segment has also started to trend upwards, in part helped by the healthier, albeit still fragile, economic backdrop in Brazil;
  • Africa: Traffic up 6.5%, down from 9.8% demand growth in Jun-2017. Capacity rose 1.7%, and load factor jumped 3.4 pppt to 74.1%. Conditions in the region's two largest economies continue to diverge, with South Africa in recession while business confidence levels are at a two-year peak in Nigeria. [more - original PR]