The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for September showing that demand rose 5.7% compared to the same month in 2016. This was the slowest year-on-year increase since February. Hurricanes Irma and Maria weighed heavily on the results, although growth already had been tapering. Capacity climbed 5.3% and load factor edged up 0.3 percentage points to 81.6%, which was a record for the month of September. International RPKs climbed 6.5% with airlines in all regions recording growth compared to 2016. Total capacity climbed 5.6%, and load factor rose 0.7 percentage points to 81.3%.
Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic rose 8.7% in September compared to the year-ago period, the strongest growth among regions. Capacity increased 7.8%, and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage points to 78.3%.
European carriers saw September demand rise 7.1% over September 2016, in line with August growth of 7.0%. Capacity rose 5.2% and load factor surged 1.6 percentage points to 86.8%, which was the highest among regions. Middle East carriers had a 3.7% rise in demand, the slowest rate of increase since February 2009. Traffic between the region and the US has fallen for six consecutive months through August (the most recent month for which route data are available). Capacity rose 4.3%, and load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 74.5%. North American airlines experienced a 3.0% rise in demand in September. Capacity rose 3.6% and load factor fell 0.5 percentage points to 81.0%. Latin American airlines’ performance also was affected by hurricane activity but strong underlying demand meant that traffic rose 8.5% compared to the same month last year. Capacity climbed at the same rate and load factor was flat at 82.2%, the second highest among regions. African airlines posted a 3.6% rise in traffic in September, down from 6.5% in August. Capacity rose 0.3% and load factor jumped 2.4 percentage points to 73.8%.
