‘Worrying decline’ in international air passenger numbers: IATA
Contributors are not employed, compensated or governed by TD, opinions and statements are from the contributor directly
Air passenger travel on international markets was up 3.2% in November year-on-year, according to IATA’s premium and economy travel analysis for the month.
This is a slowdown on October, and although part of the weakness can be attributed to temporary factors, there are reasons for concern that a downtrend is developing, IATA said.
Both economy and premium travel weakened, but there was a notable deceleration in first and business class travel, up just 0.7%.
Moreover, the latest data shows signs that a downtrend in international passenger numbers is developing.
At the route-level, the weakness in air travel in November was mostly a result of the Europe-Far East market, IATA said.
The strikes at Lufthansa caused some downward impact on the year-on-year comparison, but further slowdown in the Chinese economy could be eroding demand, particularly for business-related air travel.
The outlook for international passenger growth remains mixed because growth during the recent past has been narrowly based and supported by the Within Europe and North Atlantic markets.
Weakness in other regions, like Asia, has become more of a concern with the November data showing signs of a downtrend developing,” IATA concluded.
Comments are closed.