Global air travel demand increased 4.6 percent year over
year in May, outpaced by a 5.5 percent growth in capacity, according to the
International Air Transport Association.
Air travel demand growth should remain moderate in the
coming months due to factors like "continuing terrorist activity and the
fragile state of the global economy," IATA CEO and director general Tony
Tyler said in a statement. "Neither bode well for travel demand, and the
shocks of Istanbul and the economic fallout of the Brexit vote make it
difficult to see an early uptick."
International air travel demand increased 4.3 percent year
over year in May, down from 5 percent growth in April. May was the third
consecutive month that demand growth decreased. Airline load factors were down in
every region except Latin America, where demand and capacity growth were in
equilibrium.
Domestic demand rose 5.1 percent in May, up from
4 percent in April. Domestic year-over-year demand growth decreased from the
previous month in Brazil, Russia and Japan but rose in the United States.
"Having gone through a soft patch over the past six months in line with
softening indicators of business confidence, demand appears to have resumed its
upward trend," according to IATA.