Air travel body Iata: Global air passenger rate of growth dives to lowest since January 2015
Global demand for passenger travel in April rose 4.6 per cent – the slowest rate of growth since January 2015, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday.
And demand for air freight, measured in freight tonne kilometres, was up 3.2 per cent in April, but Iata head Tony Tyler said that was not a true reflection of the market. “The reality is that demand is weak, as we see from global trade figures and there’s little to indicate an uptick is imminent,” he said.
Tyler was speaking ahead of Iata’s three-day annual meeting in Dublin, starting tomorrow, where it will provide an updated forecast for airline industry profitability in 2016.
He added that Middle East carriers posted growth of about 13 per cent year-on-year, and the region was alone in recording a double-digit percentage increase in demand amid a global slowdown after the Brussels airport attack in March.
The attacks in March on Brussels’ airport and underground left 31 people dead and 300 wounded. They weighed on April figures, Iata said, estimating that without them, demand growth would have been about five per cent.