Air travel growth reaches seven-month high
Demand for flights grew 7% in September, the strongest year-on-year increase in seven months, according to the International Air Transport Association.
Capacity rose 6.6% and load factors edged up 0.3 percentage points to 81.1%.
“September’s growth in passenger demand was healthy. Importantly, this rebound from August weakness suggests that travel demand is showing its resilience in the aftermath of terror attacks," said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre Je Juniac.
However, he said the industry was still vulnerable to rising geopolitical tensions, protectionist political agendas and weak economic fundamentals.
"This will still be a good year for the airline industry’s performance, but our profitability will continue to be hard-won,” he added.
European airlines saw demand in September rise 5.2% over the same month last year, however, capacity was up 5.7% so there was a 0.4% fall in load factor to 84.8%.
Middle East airlines saw the greatest rise in traffic, which was up 11.5%. However, capacity rose 13.8% so load factors were down 1.5 percentage points to 73.9%.
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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