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January global passenger traffic signals suggest solid start to 2015
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced on Thursday that the global passenger traffic results for January 2015, showing 4
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he International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced on Thursday that the global passenger traffic results for January 2015, showing 4.6 percent traffic growth, measured in revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs), compared to January 2014.
IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler said that the figure represents a slower start to the year compared to the 2014 full-year growth of 5.9 percent.
However, Tyler said that such results were likely affected by the timing of the Lunar New Year in Asia, which occurred one month later this year compared to 2014.
'The [January] traffic did not maintain the rate of growth attained in 2014. Nevertheless, we are seeing healthy albeit slightly slower growth in the demand for air services. While January was a relatively positive start for the year, we cannot look ahead without seeing some significant risk factors in the macro-economic and political environment,' he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday in a statement.
He also said that the international passenger traffic in January this year rose by 5.4 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
'The capacity rose by 6 percent and the [passenger] load factor slipped 0.5 percentage points to 78 percent. All regions recorded year-over increases in demand except for Africa,' he said, adding that the capacity was measured in kilometers of available seats (ASK).
African airlines saw their January traffic slip 0.7 percent compared to January 2014.
IATA data showed that the weakness in international air travel for the carriers is not believed to be attributable to the Ebola outbreak.
The slowdown appears to reflect negative economic developments in parts of the continent including Nigeria, the continent's largest economy, which suffers from the plunge in oil prices.
In addition, the data revealed that European carriers' international traffic climbed by 5 percent in January compared to the same period in 2014, which was the largest increase among the three biggest regions.
Asia-Pacific carriers including Indonesia recorded an increase of 4.7 percent compared to January last year, which is below the 2014 annual trend of 5.8 percent.
Airlines in the Middle East region, meanwhile, recorded the strongest year-over-year traffic growth in the first month of the year at 11.4 percent.(+++)
