Global passenger demand rose 3.1 percent year over year in March, according to the International Air Transport Association, the slowest year-over-year growth rate for any month in the past nine years. IATA attributed the March pace to the Easter holiday's later date this year. Capacity rose 4.2 percent, and load factor dropped 0.9 percentage points to 81.7 percent. Crossborder passenger demand grew 2.5 percent, and capacity climbed 4 percent. Load factor fell 1.2 percentage points to 80.8 percent. Domestic passenger demand grew 4.1 percent, and capacity rose 4.5 percent. Load factor saw a 0.3 percentage-point dip to 83.4 percent. "Despite March's slowdown, the outlook for air travel remains solid," said IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac. "Global connectivity has never been better. Consumers can choose from more than 21,000 city pair combinations on more than 125,000 daily flights, and airfares continue to decline in real terms."
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