The level of international air travel is now 4% above the pre-recession peak of early 2008, according to the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
November’s traffic results show an 8.2% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers.
This is a slight fall on the level of growth seen in October (10%), but when set against the rapid rise in traffic volumes seen in the fourth quarter of 2009, these figures show a normalising trend in the aviation sector.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s CEO, said the industry is “shifting gears in the recovery cycle”.
“Growth is slowing towards normal historical levels in the 5-6% range,” he said.
Of the regions, the African carriers were the only ones to show an increase in growth rates from October (12.6%) to November (16.4%).
European carriers saw a growth in traffic of 7.3%, while passenger numbers for North American carriers grew by 9.5%, Asia Pacific carriers by 5.8% and Middle East carriers by 16.7%.
Latin American airlines, which have been some of the strongest performing over the past year, showed no growth in passenger numbers.
“Relative weakness in developed markets is being offset by the momentum of economic expansion in developing markets,” said Bisignani.
IATA’s figures confirm that the aviation industry is on track to deliver a profit of $15.1 billion this year, despite being one of the worst hit sectors during the recession – in 2009 airlines globally lost $9.9 billion.
For 2011, IATA predicts a reduced profit of $9.1 billion for the airlines. “That’s a 1.5% margin. More hard work will be needed in the New Year to acehieve sustainable levels of profitability,” said Bisignani.
www.iata.org