Global air travel demand increased 7.8 percent year over
year in June and rose across all global regions, according to the International
Air Transport Association. Global air capacity increased 6.5 percent, and load
factor increased 1 percentage point to 81.9 percent.
International air travel demand growth was slowest for
Middle East airlines. Among their routes, those to North America saw the
weakest demand growth, due in part to the U.S. laptop and travel bans. The
growth already had been slowing on those routes, however, according to IATA.
Global
air traffic grew 7.9 percent for the first six months of 2017, the highest
growth rate for that period in 12 years.