Globally, air travel demand rose 7.6 percent year over year in February, according to the International Air Transport Association, a jump from January's 4.6 percent year-over-year growth. Load factor rose 0.9 percentage points to 80.4 percent, a record for the month of February. Capacity increased 6.3 percent. "As expected, we saw a return to stronger demand growth in February, after the temporary slowdown in January," said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. "This is being supported by the robust economic backdrop and solid business confidence. However, increases in fuel prices—and labor costs in some countries—likely will temper the amount of traffic stimulation from lower airfares this year."
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International Travel
International air travel demand rose 7.2 percent year over year. Capacity climbed 5.9 percent, and load factor rose 1 percentage point to 79.3 percent. All regions experienced higher year-over-year growth. A weak dollar boosted North America demand, offsetting some of the negative impacts of declining traffic to the U.S.
Domestic Travel
Domestic demand rose 8.2 percent year over year in February, up from 4.9 percent growth in January. Capacity increased 7 percent, and load factor fell 0.2 percentage points to 79.8 percent.
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