International passenger traffic 6.5 percent up in 2015

TBN —

Geneva : Global air passenger traffic increased 6.5 percent in 2015 compared to a year earlier, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

“ This was the strongest result since the post-Global Financial Crisis rebound in 2010 and well above the 10-year average annual growth rate of 5.5 percent . While economic fundamentals were weaker in 2015 compared to 2014, passenger demand was boosted by lower airfares. “

“Last year’s very strong performance, against a weaker economic backdrop, confirms the strong demand for aviation connectivity. But even as the appetite for air travel increased, consumers benefitted from lower fares compared to 2014,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

International passenger traffic rose 6.5 percent  in 2015 compared to 2014.  All regions recorded year-over-year increases in demand.

Asia Pacific carriers recorded a demand increase of 8.2 percent compared to 2014, which was the largest increase among the three largest regions. Demand was stimulated by a 7.3% increase in the number of direct airport connections in the region, resulting in time-savings for travelers.

European carriers’ international traffic climbed 5.0% in 2015. Traffic growth slowed toward the end of the year owing to strikes at Lufthansa and the shutdown of Russia’s Transaero.

North American airlines saw demand rise 3.2% in 2015, broadly unchanged from the growth achieved in 2014, while Middle East carriers had the strongest annual traffic growth at 10.5%.

Latin American airlines’ traffic rose 9.3% in 2015. Capacity rose 9.2% and load factor inched up 0.1 percentage points to 80.1%. While key regional economies, particularly Brazil, have been struggling, overall traffic has been robust.

African airlines had the slowest annual demand growth, up 3.0%, although this was a significant improvement over the 0.9% annual growth achieved in 2014.

Domestic air travel rose 6.3 percent in 2015. All markets showed growth, led by India and China but there was wide variance.

US domestic traffic climbed 4.9 percent last year, helped by solid economic growth. This was the fastest rate of increase since 2004 and the first time since 2003 that domestic traffic growth surpassed international growth. 

Feb. 4, 2016