Global air passenger demand rose 3.6 percent year over year in July, according to the International Air Transport Association. In recent months, air traffic has been growing at a slower pace, and that continued in July, IATA noted. Capacity climbed 3.2 percent year over year, making July the third consecutive month in which capacity has grown slower than demand. Load factor rose 0.3 percentage points to 85.7 percent, a record for July and the highest load factor this year. All regions posted modest capacity growth and high load factors, some posting their own record load factors for July.
Story continues below.
"July's performance marked a soft start to the peak [July-August] passenger demand season,” said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. "Tariffs, trade wars, and uncertainty over Brexit are contributing to a weaker demand environment than we saw in 2018. At the same time, the trend of moderate capacity increases is helping to achieve record load factors."
Crossborder traffic rose 2.7 percent year over year in July. Crossborder capacity increased 2.4 percent, and crossborder load factor rose 0.2 percentage points to 85.3 percent.
Domestic traffic climbed 5.2 percent, carried by strong growth in China and India. Domestic capacity rose 4.7 percent, and load factor increased 0.4 percentage points to 86.5 percent.
RELATED: June air traffic & capacity