The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday announced that international passenger traffic rose 10.5 percent year on year, significantly stronger than the 6.5 percent increase recorded for August.
However, international freight traffic recorded a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase, which is significantly weaker than the 19 percent rise recorded in August.
“The contrast between the performance of freight and passenger markets provides a mixed picture for industry performance,” IATA said. “Seasonally adjusted figures show that, compared to the previous month (August), passenger traffic expanded by 2.1% while freight markets contracted by an equal 2.1%.”
According to IATA figures, North American carriers recorded a 13 percent growth in September, down from the 21.2 percent recorded in August, leaving the region 1 percent below pre-recession levels.
European carriers met an 8.4 percent increase in demand over the previous year with a 5.9 percent increase in capacity. The region’s carriers reported an average load factor of 82.6 percent. With the results, the region is now 2 percent above pre-recession levels.
Asia-Pacific carriers posted an 8.6 percent traffic increase over the previous September against a capacity increase of 6.9 percent, IATA said. While the region led the recovery with an early surge in demand, growth in 2010 has been largely flat. Traffic in the region remains 2 percent below the pre-crisis peak of early 2008.
Middle Eastern carriers led the industry growth with a 23.9 percent increase compared to 2009. The earlier occurrence of Ramadan dampened demand in August, but boosted September’s traffic. This outstripped capacity growth of 15.3 percent. Nonetheless, load factors of 76.8 percent were below the industry’s 80 percent performance.
Latin American carriers posted the industry’s weakest growth at 6.6 percent with a 0.5 percent increase in capacity, largely due to the ceasing of all operations by Mexican carrier Mexicana.
African carriers reported a 16 percent growth in demand over the previous September against a 10.1 percent increase in capacity. The region is now 7 percent higher than the pre-recession levels of early 2008.
“While September’s passenger growth is reassuring, the accelerating decline of air freight, including in Asia, is an early indicator of some turbulence ahead,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
