The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has revealed that international passenger air traffic grew by 16.5% last month, compared to April 2010.
While the growth has been exaggerated by the comparison with 2010, when European airspace was closed due to the ash cloud, it does reveal a solid recovery from the recession.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s CEO, said: “International traffic is now 7% above the early 2008 pre-recession levels and business confidence is high.”
Of the regions, European carriers saw the highest year-on-year growth (29.3%), but this spike is due mostly to the comparison with April when European airspace was closed.
Latin America saw a 25.9% growth in international demand, with airlines in the region benefiting from “dynamic growth of trade”.
Middle East airlines saw a 12.1% increase in passenger demand, while North American carriers reportted an 11.9% growth in international traffic, and African airlines a 1.2% growth.
Asia Pacific carriers reported a strong 5.1% growth, despite the impact of weak demand for Japan.
According to IATA, Japan’s international traffic is down 20%, knocking 1% of total international travel.
Looking ahead, Bisignani warned that demand shocks and high fuel prices “are spoiling the party”.
“Despite the enormous restructuring over the last decade, the industry is not shock-proof. Profits are being squeezed by the succession of crises and shocks that have marked the first four months of the year,”he said.
“Their impact on demand will continue to ease as we move into the second half. But maintaining the high load factors needed to support profitable growth will be difficult given the ongoing challenge of matching capacity to volatile demand.”