IATA Premium Traffic Monitor – July 2014

PREMIUM TRAFFIC MONITOR

IATA Premium Traffic Monitor – July 2014
 

Key points:

Almasalla,Gate Arab Tourism News-Growth in international air passengers was weak for a second consecutive month with a 2.6% increase in July compared to a year ago – premium seat numbers rose only slightly more, 3.0%
 

Although international air travel was 3.6% higher in July year-to-date, passenger numbers have contracted slightly between December and July;
 

Part of the ‘year-to-date’ growth took place last year, when business activity and trade grew strongly;
 

And while there was some (albeit slower) growth between December and May, there has been a notable weakening during the last two months, flattening the growth trend in international passenger numbers in 2014;

This weakness comes despite recent improvement in trade and business confidence, which both weakened in Q1;

The slowdown is largely limited to the within Far East market and markets connected to South America;
 

Economic and politic turmoil in Thailand has damaged tourism demand over recent months and Malaysia air travel has been impacted by tragedies related to the flag carrier;

The North America – South America market has been hit by capacity cuts to Venezuela as well as weakness in key economies like Brazil and Argentina;

By contrast, longer-haul markets have been performing strongly, which has supported yields and explains why international RPKs are growing much faster than passenger numbers.