Global airline passenger demand for May fell 2.2% year-on-year, attributed to the conflict in the Middle East, but things are starting to look up for carriers, if they can survive a few more months of higher costs, says IATA.
The association’s director general Willie Walsh says the May decline was centered on carriers in the Middle East which experienced a 28.4% year-on-year demand drop.
And while this sounds bad, he notes that the results are a significant improvement on the 46.6% decline recorded for Apr, a sign he says of the region’s resilience. Excluding the Middle East, the IATA data shows that overall demand was up 0.7% in May, while international demand grew by 3.1%.
Looking ahead, Walsh says the challenges created by the war will likely persist for some time, and that it is likely that it will also take time before the benefit of lower oil prices is reflected in ‘normalised’ jet fuel pricing. “In the meantime, airlines who are operating on a 2% margin will have little choice but to continue testing demand resilience with higher fares that attempt to cover elevated fuel costs.”
. . . Regions
For once it wasn’t Asia Pacific leading for demand. In May, Latin American airlines reported a 10.5% year-onyear increase in demand and African airlines an 8.9% rise, followed by European carriers at 3.8%.
Asia-Pacific airlines achieved a 1.3% year-on-year increase in demand and North American carriers a 1% rise, while Middle Eastern carriers saw a 28.8% year-on-year decrease in demand.
