DUBAI: A slowdown in the North American market continued to weigh on Middle East carriers as the 5.5 percent overall passenger traffic increase in August was well below their 11.1 percent five-year average pace, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.
Middle East air freight demand meanwhile maintained their strong upward trend in August, with volumes up 14.1 percent and capacity higher by 2.8 percent.
“The Middle East-to-North America market in particular has been hit by a combination of factors, including the now lifted cabin ban on large portable electronic devices, as well as a wider impact from the proposed travel bans to the US,” IATA said.
“Traffic growth on the segment was already slowing in early-2017, in conjunction with an easing in the pace of growth of nonstop services flown by the largest Middle Eastern airlines. Capacity increased 5.1 percent, with load factor rising 0.3 percentage points to 81.4 percent.”
The US Department of Homeland Security in July lifted restrictions against electronic devices inside the cabins of passenger aircraft taking off from Gulf, Middle East and North African airports, after imposing it months earlier due to security concerns.
Meanwhile, the strong upward trend in freight volumes largely reflect the weakness in the previous year’s performance than an actual acceleration in the current demand trend. Seasonally-adjusted international freight volumes have nonetheless maintained their solid upward trend, IATA said.
“However, amid strong competition from other region’s carriers particularly on the Asia-Europe route, the Middle East carriers are not seeing as strong a pickup in the seasonally-adjusted traffic trend as other region’s carriers,” IATA said.
On a global scale, freight demand – measured in freight ton kilometers – increased by 12.1 percent in August from a year ago, the fifth time in six months of annualized double-digit growths.
Global passenger traffic demand for August, measured in total revenue passenger kilometers, climbed at 7.2 percent from a year ago while capacity, or available seat kilometers, increased by 6.3 percent and load factor climbed 0.7 percent percentage points to 84.5 percent.
“Following the strong summer traffic season in the Northern hemisphere, 2017 is on course to be another year of strong traffic growth. However, some important demand drivers are easing, particularly lower fares. As we head toward the end of the year we still expect growth to continue, but potentially at a slower pace,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said.
For August, European carriers saw passenger demand climb 6.9 percent year-to-year; Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic increased 8.6 percent; North American airlines’ international demand rose 5.5 percent; Latin American carriers experienced a 9.3 percent demand increase while African airlines’ traffic climbed 6.4 percent in August.
In terms of freight volumes, Asia-Pacific airlines registered an 11.3 percent increase; North American carriers at an 11.7 percent; European air freight demand rose 11.8 percent; 8.5 percent for Latin American airlines and 29.4 percent for African carriers.
“[The] rapid growth in cargo demand means that cargo capacity is now growing in response to real cargo demand rather than automatically as carriers responded to passenger demand,” de Juniac said.
Middle East air passenger demand grows below five-year average, freight volumes keep upward trend
Middle East air passenger demand grows below five-year average, freight volumes keep upward trend
