The
International Air Transport Association on Tuesday reported that year-over-year
international airline demand slowed in August, increasing only 6 percent,
compared with nearly 10 percent passenger traffic growth in July.
Noting
that traffic began to recover in summer 2009, following some of the biggest
traffic drop-offs in history, IATA said the industry is beginning to lap last
year's "post-recession rebound," meaning slower year-over-year growth
ahead. Still, IATA noted that August global passenger traffic remained 2
percentage points above the pre-recession levels of early 2008.
"The
rapid improvements in demand that we saw earlier this year are behind us,"
said IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani. "The slowdown of
demand in August is consistent with our forecast for a tougher end to 2010 as
government stimulus monies run out without having generated significant
improvements in employment. The bounce from restocking is over. We do not yet
see the strong consumer confidence needed to sustain the expansion with
spending."
Asia/Pacific
carriers reported year-over-year August demand increases of 6 percent, while European
carriers and North American carriers each saw 5 percent growth on average.
Latin American carriers saw an average 15 percent increase in July traffic fall
to nearly 9 percent in August, while Middle East carriers reported a 12 percent
increase in August traffic, down from July's nearly 17 percent growth.