Date: 5 March 2013
Global Air Travel Demand In January Up 2.7 Per Cent.
KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) - Global air travel demand
statistics for January 2013 saw a 2.7 per cent rise compared to the same month
last year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.
The rise was slightly ahead of the 2.2 per cent expansion in
capacity, while the load factor stood at 77.1 per cent, IATA said in a
statement Tuesday.
"Strong demand for air travel, driven by the Chinese
New year, had distorted the January figures. Chinese New Year fell in January
2012 and in February this year.
"The comparison to such a strong month made January
2013 demand look weaker than the underlying trend would indicate.
"After adjusting for such seasonal factors, IATA
estimates that the actual growth would have been 3.5 per cent. This growth is
still lower than the 5.3 per cent of 2012 average," it added.
However, air travel growth slowed sharply through the year
and the results of the past few months represent an acceleration of demand
growth.
Meanwhile, IATA's Director General and Chief Executive
Officer Tony Tyler said passenger travel is growing in line with the business
confidence level.
"Recent months have seen some positive economic signs
emerge in both the United States and China, and the Eurozone crisis seems to
have stabilised. Of course, risks remain, as the impact of the US budget cut
has yet to play out and fuel prices are high.
"But even with these headwinds, real and potential, we
still see underlying support for continued and potentially, even strengthened
growth," he added.
Copyright @ BERNAMA
No comments:
Post a Comment