Passenger Traffic Growth Slowest For Four Years

January saw a slowing of global passenger traffic growth, partly affected by the later Lunar New Year in 2018, an IATA report showed.

Passenger traffic grew 4.6 percent in January, from the year ago period, the slowest year-on-year increase in almost four years, the International Air Transport Association reported in its monthly update.

The Lunar New Year travel period holiday represented around two-fifths of the slowdown for the month.

Regionally, Europe returned the highest rate of passenger traffic, 6.4 percent, measured in revenue passenger kms. Asia Pacific was second on 5.4 percent growth and Latin America third with 5.0 percent. North American pax traffic grew by 3.5 percent in January.

The Middle East’s growth moderated during the month, with just a 0.8 percent increase in traffic, the lowest of any region.

“Despite the slower start, economic momentum is supporting rising passenger demand in 2018. That said, concerns over a possible trade war involving the US could have a serious dampening effect on global market confidence, spilling over into demand for air travel,” IATA’s Director General Alexandre de Juniac said.

Airlines added more capacity for the month than traffic grew, leading to a drop in passenger load factors. Globally, capacity in available seat kms increased by 5.3 percent, with a corresponding easing of load factor to 79.6 percent, down 0.5 of a percentage point.

Regionally, Asia Pacific carriers added the most capacity, 6.6 percent, with load factor falling 0.9 of a percentage point to 80.6 percent. Europe added 5.1 percent capacity and Latin America 5.0 percent.

North America put on 4.2 percent more ASK capacity and the Middle East 4.5 percent. Middle East load factor fell by 2.8 percent to 76.6 percent.

Looking forward, IATA’s de Juniac said “We need borders that are open to trade and travel, and infrastructure to support the demand for connectivity. Governments have the main role to play in these areas by preserving the benefits of global commerce and ensuring adequate airport and airspace capacity to cope with an expected doubling of demand by 2036.”