February Demand Growth Stays Strong
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for February showing continuing strong demand growth for domestic and international travel. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 8.6%, compared to the same month last year. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 9.6%, and load factor declined 0.7 percentage points to 77.8%.
"In the first two months of 2016, demand for passenger connectivity is off to its strongest start in eight years. However, February was the first month since the middle of 2015 in which capacity growth exceeded demand, which caused the global load factor to decline. It is unclear whether this signals the start of a generalized downward trend in load factor, but it bears watching," said Tony Tyler, IATA's Director General and CEO.
February 2016 (% year-on-year)
Worldshare¹
RPK
ASK
Array
PLF (level)³
Total Market
100.0%
8.6%
9.6%
-0.7%
77.8%
Africa
2.2%
11.6%
11.9%
-0.1%
65.7%
Asia Pacific
31.5%
9.8%
9.6%
0.1%
79.0%
Europe
26.7%
7.5%
7.3%
0.2%
77.7%
Latin America
5.4%
7.2%
7.3%
-0.1%
79.5%
Middle East
9.4%
11.0%
16.7%
-3.8%
73.3%
North America
24.7%
7.1%
9.0%
-1.4%
79.1%
¹% of industry RPKs in 2015²Year-on-year change in load factor³Load factor level
International Passenger Markets
February international passenger demand rose 9.1% compared to February 2015, which was an increase over the 7.3% yearly increase recorded in January. Airlines in all regions recorded growth. Total capacity climbed 9.9%, causing load factor to slip 0.6% percentage points to 76.6%.
Array
Domestic travel demand rose 7.9% in February compared to February 2015, which was an increase over growth of 6.9% in January. All markets except Brazil showed growth, with the strongest increases occurring in India, the US and China. Domestic capacity climbed 9.0%, and load factor fell back.0.8 percentage points to 79.7%.
February 2016 (% year-on-year)
Worldshare¹
RPK
ASK
PLF (%-pt)²
PLF (level)³
Domestic
36.4%
7.9%
9.0%
-0.8%
79.7%
Australia
1.1%
4.6%
5.2%
-0.4%
74.3%
Brazil
1.4%
-3.1%
-1.0%
-1.6%
78.5%
China P.R
8.4%
8.2%
9.5%
-1.0%
82.0%
India
1.2%
24.6%
27.4%
-1.9%
85.2%
Japan
1.2%
1.4%
-0.6%
1.3%
66.8%
Russia Fed.
1.3%
3.4%
-0.8%
2.9%
72.6%
US
15.4%
8.9%
11.5%
-1.9%
80.7%
¹% of industry RPKs in 2015²Year-on-year change in load factor³Load factor level *Note: the seven domestic passenger markets for which broken-down data are available account for 30% of global total RPKs and approximately 82% of total domestic RPKs
The Bottom Line
"On March 22 we had a grim reminder that transportation–including aviation–remains a target for terrorism. The attacks in Brussels were an attack on humanity–a terrible tragedy–that was met with resilience. The subway is back in operation. And the airport is working hardto return to normal operations that will reconnect Europe's capital with the world. Aviation is a force for good. And we are once again proving that terrorists will never succeed in destroying the fundamental urge of people to travel, explore and learn about the world," said Tyler
Notes for Editors:
Total passenger traffic market shares by region of carriers in terms of RPK are: Asia-Pacific 31.5%, Europe 26.7%, North America 24.7%, Middle East 9.4%, Latin America 5.4%, and Africa 2.2%.