Global Airline shares up 0.9 pct in September

KUALA LUMPUR: Global airline share prices rose by 0.9 per cent in September 2017, the first month- on-month increase since June, driven by a gradual recovery in the North American index, the International Air Transport Association ( IATA) said yesterday.

In the September edition of the Airlines Financial Monitor, the trade association of the world’s airlines noted that airline shares underperformed the global equity market again for the month, but still far outperformed the global index over the past year.

“North American airline shares jumped by more than 5.0 per cent in early- October following guidance of a solid third quarter for unit revenues. By contrast, the Asia Pacific and European share price indices, both saw modest declines during September by 1.1 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively,” it added.

Meanwhile, the number of available seats in the global airline fleet increased by 0.7 per cent in August compared to the previous month and left the number of seats in service, 6.2 per cent higher than in the same month a year ago.

IATA said 130 new aircraft were delivered in August, a slight reduction from the 143 delivered in the same month of 2016.

T he s t r onger g lob a l trade backdrop has helped support premium passenger demand growth so far in 2017, particularly on markets to, from and within the key manufacturing region of Asia.

Premium’s share of total passengers was stable at 5.3 per cent during the first seven months of 2017 compared to the same period a year ago.

By contrast, premium demand has lagged behind economy in a number of cases, most notably between Europe and the Middle East. — Bernama