Air fares have dropped ‘more than 10 percent’
Air fares have fallen by more than 10% in real terms over the past year, according to the International Air Transport Association.
It said the drop had led to a growth in global travel at the start of this year.
In February, total revenue passenger kilometers rose almost 5% compared with the same month last year.
This was below January’s rise but IATA said year-on-year comparisons were distorted as February 2016 was a leap month.
"Adjusting for the one fewer day this year, the underlying growth rate was estimated at 8.6%, just under January’s increase of 8.9%," it said.
Monthly capacity increased by 2.7%, and load factor rose 1.6 percentage points to 79.5%, the highest ever recorded for February.
"The strong demand momentum from January has continued, supported by lower fares and a healthier economic backdrop," said IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac.
"Although we remain concerned over the impact of any travel restrictions or closing of borders, we have not seen the attempted US ban on travel from six countries translate into an identifiable traffic trend.
"Overall travel demand continues to grow at a robust rate."
US carriers saw demand rise only 0.3%, which was the slowest of all the regions, but adjusting for the leap year, growth was around 3%.
In Europe, demand was up 6.5%.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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