International Air Transport Association
Airlines
in African countries have recorded an 8.2 per cent growth in passenger
demand compared to the figures in November 2015.The International Air
Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results
for November 2016, showing the strongest demand growth in nine
months.
The demand surge, underscores enormous the potential that abound
in the air travel business and its ability to drive economies when
optimised.
IATA, the clearinghouse for about 260 airlines in the world, said the
growth was recorded amidst challenging economic conditions,
“particularly in the biggest economies of Nigeria and South Africa.”
IATA said that the upward trend in seasonally-adjusted passenger
traffic has reasserted itself more recently, supported by strong demand
on routes to and from Asia and the Middle East. Capacity rose 5.1 per
cent and load factor climbed 1.9 percentage points to 66.3 per cent.
IATA’s Director General and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Alexandre de Juniac, said stronger demand for air travel reflects—and is supporting—a pick-up in the global economic cycle.
“As the stimulus effect of lower oil prices recedes in the rear view
mirror, the strength of the economic cycle will play a key role in the
pace of demand growth in 2017,” he said.
In the international passenger markets, November demand rose 8.0 per
cent compared to the year earlier, with airlines in all regions showing
growth. Total capacity climbed 6.8 per cent, and load factor edged up
0.9 percentage points to 77.1 per cent.
European Carriers saw demand increase by 8.3 per cent, while traffic
grew at an annualised pace of 12 per cent over the past five months or
so. This suggests that the disruption caused by terrorism and political
instability has lifted, against a backdrop of a growing Eurozone
economy. Capacity rose 6.8 per cent and load factor climbed 1.1
percentage points to 80.8 per cent.
Asia-Pacific airlines’ November traffic also climbed 8.3 per cent
compared to the year-ago period. Capacity increased 7.1 per cent and
load factor rose 0.8 percentage points to 77.4 per cent. The strong
upward trend in demand has slowed recently but it is not clear whether
this is a longer-term development or just a brief pause.
Middle East carriers led all regions with a 12.2 per cent demand
increase. But the upward trend in the region’s seasonally adjusted
traffic has paused, with November’s level coming in unchanged from that
of July. Capacity rose 11.6 per cent and load factor rose 0.3 percentage
points to 68.7 per cent.
North American airlines’ traffic climbed 1.5 per cent in November.
Traffic across the Pacific is growing rapidly but North Atlantic demand
is moderating. Capacity rose 1.2 per cent and load factor edged up 0.2
percentage points to 78.7 per cent.
Latin American airlines saw November traffic climb 7.3 per cent
compared to November 2015. Capacity increased by just 2.9 per cent,
pushing load factor up 3.4 percentage points to 82.2 per cent. The
upward trend in international traffic has remained strong despite
difficult conditions on the North America-South America route, supported
by healthy international demand within South America.
Source:-guardian.ng
