New figures from the Association of European Airlines point to a slight upturn in passenger numbers accompanied by capacity restraint among carriers.
In the first six months of 2013, AEA members’ carried 176 million passengers, an increase of 2.9 million or 1.7 per cent year on year. Long-haul passenger traffic to and from Europe increased by 3 per cent to almost 37 million, while international short and medium haul traffic posted growth of 3.2 per cent, totaling nearly 97 million.
The association said its members had exercised considerable capacity constraint given the more upbeat environment, with total scheduled available seat-kilometres growing by only 1.2 per cent. This resulted in record passenger load factors, up by 1.2 percentage points to 78.8 per cent.
The AEA called 2013 a “crucial year” for members to implement cost-cuttings, capacity adjustments and revenue improvements.