Air Freight Demand up 9% in 2017

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced global passenger traffic results for 2017 showing that demand ( revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) for the year ended 31 December 2017 rose by 7.6% compared to 2016. This was well above the 10-year average annual growth rate of 5.5%. While the rate of demand growth slowed to 6.2% in December 2017, compared to December 2016, this largely was owing to less favorable comparisons to the even stronger growth trend seen in the year-ago period. Full year 2017 capacity rose 6.3%, and load factor climbed 0.9 percentage point to a record calendar-year high of 81.4%.

“2017 got off to a very strong start and largely stayed that way throughout the year, sustained by a broad-based pick-up in economic conditions. While the underlying economic outlook remains supportive in 2018, rising cost inputs, most notably fuel, suggest we are unlikely to see the same degree of demand stimulation from lower fares that occurred in the first part of 2017,” stated Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

In 2017, international passenger traffic soared 7.9% compared to 2016. Capacity rose 6.4% and load factor climbed 1.1 percentage points to 80.6%. All regions recorded year- over- year increases in demand, led by the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions.

carriers posted annual demand growth of 9.4%, compared to 2016, driven by robust regional economic expansion and an increase in route options for travelers. This was the first time since 1994 that Asia-Pacific led all the regions in annual growth rate. Capacity rose 7.9%, and load factor climbed by 1.1 percentage points to 79.6%.

international traffic climbed 8.2% in 2017 compared to the previous year, underpinned by buoyant economic conditions in the region. Capacity rose 6.1% and load factor surged 1.6 percentage points to 84.4%, which was the highest for any region.

traffic increased 6.6% last year. The region was the only one to see a slowdown in annual growth compared to 2016, and the region’s share of global traffic (9.5%) fell for the first