Air traffic grows but still at risk, says IATA
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Air passenger traffic increased 6.8% in May this year compared to the same month in 2010, according to new figures from International Air Transport Association. Statistics from the association show that European carriers’ traffic rose 10.9% year-on-year due to an increase in spend in northern Europe. The weak Euro is also said to have encouraged business and inbound travel. European airlines posted the second biggest growth in capacity at 10.6% after Latin America and the European load factor increased to 77.7%. All markets had seen an increase in traffic although North American carriers were the only market to cut capacity. Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA said the industry is still fragile despite the positive news. “There are risks associated with political unrest in the Middle East and the European currency crisis. We still expect the industry to make $4 billion this year. That is a pathetic 0.7% margin and another shock could alter the industry’s fortunes dramatically. It’s another tough year for a very fragile industry,” he said.
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