Demand slowdown continues

IATA reports that global traffic results for August show demand for air transport continuing to flatten-out, but with significant regional variations. Demand for air travel expanded by 5.1% in August compared to the same month in 2011. This partly reflects a positive distortion owing to the timing of Ramadan. Adjustment for such seasonal fluctuations reveals that passenger demand has been basically flat since June and with only a 1.2% expansion since January. Carriers continued to moderate capacity expansion, limiting it to 4.1% growth, taking load factors to 82.1%. Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, commented, “Passenger markets have not grown since June and global air freight volumes are below previous year levels. In the face of these adverse conditions, disciplined capacity management has kept load factors high. There are always opportunities and some parts of the world are growing. But, overall, trading conditions are tough.”