International Air Traffic Gains Continue in January
From the International Air Transport Association:
Demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic showed continuing improvement in January (see red line in graph). Compared to the previous year, January passenger demand was up 6.4%. Against this improving demand, a 1.2% increase in passenger capacity in January pushed load factors to 75.9% (up from the 72.2% recorded for January 2009).
For international passenger demand:
* Asia Pacific carriers experienced a 6.5% increase in demand compared to the previous year.
* Carriers in North America and Europe saw demand increase by 2.1% and 3.1% respectively.
* Middle Eastern carriers grew throughout the recession. Growth accelerated to 23.6% in January.
* Latin American carriers saw demand increase by 11% in January on the back of a strong regional economy.
* African carriers recorded a 6.3% improvement in January, assisted by robust regional economic activity.
International cargo demand showed a 28.3% improvement with only a 3.7% increase in capacity (see green line in graph above). This pushed the cargo load factor to 49.6% which is a step-change from the 40.1% recorded in January 2009.
5 Comments:
I understand cargo growth as a sign of economic recovery. Actually, one of my favorite posts you ever did was about port occupancy rates being an excellent indicator of economic conditions. But are passenger rates really a good indicator? That would seem to be a function more of 'consumers choosing a plane over a train or car', and would seem to tie in more with discounted fares than economic conditions.
I hope you respond, I'm curious as to what you think.
GW South:
I think these stats are for International Air Travel, so travel by train or car would not be an alternative.
Well as someone who's been airlining for 34+ years the one thing I've come to understand is that the IATA folks have a tendency to be excessivly optimistic in reporting their numbers...
I'm not saying they're lying per se but the picture IATA presents might be a bit rosier than reality would dictate...
Maybe one reason the USA has lower airline growth is because of their stupid policy of making ALL passengers go thru customs and immigration, even if they are just there connecting flights.
Thus my wife cannot fly thru USA because she isn't a citizen. We always avoid US airports because of the extra hassel.
@ Prof. Perry -
D'oh, it says that right in the headline.
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