Globally, air travel demand rose 4.6 percent year over year
in January, the slowest monthly year-over-year increase in nearly four years,
according to the International Air Transport Association. IATA attributed the
slow growth to temporary factors like an unfavorable comparison with early
2017's strong demand and the later timing of the Lunar New Year in 2018. IATA
attributed two-fifths of the slowdown to the Lunar New Year shift.
Global capacity rose 5.3 percent year-over-year in January,
and global load factor fell a percentage point to 79.6 percent.
Story continues below.
International Travel
Globally, international air travel demand grew 4.4 percent
year over year in January—slower than January 2017's 7.9 percent year-over-year
demand growth—while capacity rose 5.3 percent and load factor dipped half a
percentage point to 79.6 percent. Latin America and Europe demand grew the
fastest. Healthy economic growth boosted North America demand while declining
traffic into the U.S. brought it back down.
Year-over-year growth in Asia/Pacific hit a 46-month low,
and a decrease in traffic between North America and the Middle East continues
to hit Middle East demand.
Domestic Travel
Globally, domestic demand climbed 5.1 percent year over year
in January, down from 7 percent in December. IATA attributed the slower growth
entirely to the later Lunar New Year. Domestic capacity increased 5.3 percent
and load factor slid 0.2 percentage points to 79.8.
"Despite the slower start, economic momentum is
supporting rising passenger demand in 2018," said IATA director general
and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. "That said, concerns over a possible trade
war involving the U.S. could have a serious dampening effect on global market
confidence, spilling over into demand for air travel."
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2017
full-year & December traffic & capacity