Nigeria: African Airlines, Others Record Growth in Cargo, Passenger Traffic

By Chika Goodluck-Ogazi

THE global air transport report has revealed that African airlines have recorded a growth of 4.9 per cent, which reversed the year-on-year contraction experienced in June, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

However, with the capacity rising up to 4.5 per cent, the load factor improved slightly to 70.2 per cent.

Currently, the biggest factor impacting international traffic demand in July was the slowdown of the South African economy, coupled with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which intensified towards the end of July, the impact of which may likely be seen in August.

Also, with the released data for global airfreight markets have showed a strong increase in air cargo in July. Compared to July 2013, freight tonne kilometers (FTKs) that rose to 5.8 per cent.

To IATA, it was acceleration in growth from June when cargo demand grew at less than half that rate of 2.4 per cent.

The strong growth mirrors positive developments in some key regional economies. After a slowdown at the start of the year, global business confidence and trade are showing signs of improvement again, especially in Asia-Pacific.

Global air cargo volumes have now surpassed their previous July peak, in 2010, and look set to continue to increase.

European airfreight, however, grew just 1.8 per cent. This was reflected on the effects of the Russia-Ukraine crisis (including the impact of mounting economic sanctions), which has added to economic weakness in the Eurozone.

"Overall, July saw growth accelerate. That's good news and it reflects the continued strengthening of business confidence at a global level. But the air cargo industry is moving at two speeds with a sharp divide in regional performance. European carriers reported anemic growth of just 1.8 per cent while all other regions reported solid gains of 5 per cent or more on the previous year.

"In particular, the 7.1 per cent growth reported by airlines in Asia-Pacific is encouraging as it demonstrates a recovery in trade and a positive response to China's economic stimulus measures," said the Director General and Chief Executive Officer, IATA, Tony Tyler.

IATA has also stated that the global passenger traffic results for July have showed demand growth of 5.3 per cent over the previous July. Capacity expanded exactly in tandem with demand with 5.3 per cent, resulting in a global load factor of 82.3 per cent, unchanged from last year.

Tyler added: "July was another strong month of growth for air travel. People are connecting by air in ever-greater numbers. That's true across all regions. Despite the various economic challenges, the outlook for passenger travel remains broadly positive. The overall sluggishness at the beginning of the year appears to be behind us with growth in China and other emerging economies offsetting recent deterioration in the Eurozone".

According to the body, the July international passenger demand rose by 5.5 per cent compared to the same month in 2013. This was outstripped by a capacity expansion of 6.2 per cent, which resulted in a slight weakening of the load factor to 81.9 per cent.

European carriers reported growth of 5.3 per cent in July compared to a year ago. Capacity expanded slightly more aggressively at 5.6 per cent, but the region still reported a very high load factor of 85.1 per cent. While this was a robust performance, latest indicators showed a weakening in key European economies such as Germany reflecting the impact of sanctions associated with the deepening Russia-Ukraine crisis.

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