Sandy adds to global air traffic gloom: IATA

GENEVA, Nov 30, (AFP): The effects of Superstorm Sandy which devastated parts of the Northeastern US and the Caribbean last month are deepening an already dire situation for the global airline industry, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.

The massive hurricane “dealt the airline industry a $500-million (385-million-euro) blow at a time when it can least afford it,” IATA chief Tony Tyler said in a statement.

The organisation calculated that nearly 17,000 flights were cancelled to the five US airports most affected by the storm, John F. Kennedy, Newark and LaGuardia in New York, as well as the WashingtonDulles and Philadelphia airports.

“At the peak of the storm on Monday, Oct 29, 8.0-9.0 percent of global capacity was grounded,” IATA said, stressing that this was equivalent to 1.6 billion avail- able seat kilometres.

“Hurricane Sandy delivered a concentrated punch to US domestic and North Atlantic travel. And its impact was felt globally,” the organisation said.

Tyler pointed out that “direct flight cancellations reached airports as far apart as Singapore, Johannesburg and Santiago.”

“Meetings were cancelled, shipments delayed, conferences postponed and sup- ply chains disrupted,” he said, pointing out that “the disruption ... demonstrated just how connected the aviation industry has made the world.”

IATA pointed out that the storm had exacerbated already weak air travel demand due to “slowing world trade and weak business confidence.”

Globally, passenger demand had risen 2.8 percent last month compared to October 2011, but had fallen 0.5 percent compared to September, IATA said.

At the same time, though, freight demand slipped 3.5 percent year-on-year and 2.2 percent compared to September.

“Airlines are managing the softer passenger demand environment by limiting capacity growth to keep load factors high,” it said, pointing out though that “the rapid decline in freight traffic is outrunning the industry’s ability to respond.”

Hurricane Sandy had hit the US domestic market the hardest, IATA said, pointing out that around two thirds of all air passengers impacted by Sandy were travelling internally in the United States.

US domestic traffic thus slipped 0.7 percent year-on-year in October, while capacity fell 1.1 percent. This in turn pushed the load factor up to 84 percent — the highest among all domestic markets, IATA said.