SYDNEY, 1 June 2018: Fewer fare bargains, as fuel prices rise, may have contributed to a slowdown in passenger demand growth in April according to the International Air Transport Association’s passenger traffic data for April.
IATA released details of airline performance, worldwide, during the annual general meeting being held in Sydney, this week.
Revenue passenger kilometres, or RPKs, rose by 6.2% compared with a growth of 9.7% in March, which was a 12-month high.
Comparisons with April 2017 were impacted by the comparatively late timing of Easter last year, which boosted April traffic.
April capacity (available seat kilometres, or ASKs, increased by 5.9%, and load factor climbed 0.2 percentage point to 82.3%, which was a record for the month of April, surpassing last year’s record of 82.1%.
“Demand for air transport continues to be above the long-term trend. However, increases in airline cost inputs, most notably fuel prices, means that we are unlikely to see increased stimulation from lower fares in 2018, compared to previous years,” said IATA’s director general and CEO. Alexandre de Juniac.
April international passenger demand rose 4.8% compared to April 2017.
All regions recorded year-over-year traffic increases, but all were behind the pace of growth reported in March. Total capacity climbed 4.9%, and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage point to 81.4%.
Meanwhile, Asia-Pacific carriers posted an 8.5% traffic rise in April, strongest among the regions. It was the first time since December 2017 that Asia-Pacific airlines led in growth.
Passenger traffic has continued to trend upwards at an annualized rate in the region of 10%, supported by robust regional economic expansion and ongoing growth in the number of flight options, which translates into time savings for passengers. Capacity rose 7.6% and load factor improved 0.6 percentage point to 81.0%.
