Solid Traffic Growth for July Air Travel

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced healthy global passenger demand for July with all regions reporting growth. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 6.2%, compared to the same month last year. While this was down from 8.1% year-over-year growth in June, it nevertheless marked a solid start to the peak passenger demand season. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.5% and load factor rose 0.6 percentage point to a record high for July of 85.2%, the Travel Daily News reported. July international passenger demand rose 5.3% compared to July 2017, which was a deceleration compared to the 8.2% growth recorded in June. Total capacity climbed 4.7%, and load factor edged up half a percentage point to 85.0%. All regions reported growth, led by Asia-Pacific for the first time in three months. Domestic travel demand grew by 7.8% year-on-year in July, broadly in line with 8.0% growth recorded in June. All markets saw annual increases, with China, India and Russia posting double-digit growth rates. Domestic capacity climbed 6.9%, and load factor rose 0.8 percentage point to 85.6%.