International passenger demand up by 5.5 pc: IATA

Mumbai, July 3 (UNI) The year-on-year international passenger demand has witnessed a growth of 5.5 per cent in May, while growth in freight demand went upto 5 per cent, an increase of 2.2 per cent over the preceding month, International Air Transport Association (IATA) traffic results for May revealed today.

IATA represents over 240 airlines comprising 94 per cent of international scheduled air traffic.

According to IATA, this was the largest increase since September 2006, whereas average load factors remained strong at 73.7 per cent, up by 0.1 per cent year-on-year.

''The pick-up in freight, led by Asia, could be the first sign of strengthening demand. Over the next months, we will be closely watching the impact of several changing conditions, including intensifying competition from other modes of transport and structural changes such as manufacturers producing lighter goods,'' IATA's Director General and Chief Eexective Officer Giovanni Bisignani, said while releasing the monthly results.

On the passenger side, growth has stabilised while strong competition is keeping load factors high even as carriers aggressively expand international routes to take advantage of some liberalising markets,'' Mr Bisignani added.

The results show that airlines in the Middle East saw the strongest passenger demand growth in May with a 19.6 per cent increase that also boosted load factors to 70.8 per cent. African airlines recorded demand growth of 11.2 per cent, driven by improved regional economic performance and growing links with Asia and the Middle East.

Interestingly, Latin American airlines showed the first demand growth in a year with a 4.2 per cent increase, following airline restructuring.

Of the three largest regions, Asia Pacific recorded 5.1 per cent growth, while Europe recorded a slower 3.2 per cent increase due to increased competition from new entrants and no-frills carriers.

North American demand rose 4.2 per cent while recording the highest average load factor of all regions at 80.4 per cent.

On the other hand, air freight demand growth was led by airlines in the Middle East at 10.5 per cent. However, Asia Pacific airlines drove overall freight growth, with demand doubling from 3.8 per cent in April to 7.6 per cent in May, reflecting the strong levels of economic and trade growth in the region.

Air freight demand growth remained sluggish in North America with 2.6 per cent, Europe where it was 1.6 per cent and Latin America, which saw 1.1 per cent, while African air freight demand dropped sharply.

Commenting on the results, Mr Bisignani said ''The industry is expected to turn a profit of 5.1 billion dollars in 2007, the first black number since 2000.'' UNI