Airlines Record 2.5% Growth in Passenger Traffic

• Airlines Record 2.5% Growth in Passenger Traffic

Airlines in Nigeria and the rest of Africa recorded 2.5 per cent in passenger traffic in February, the International Air Transport Association has said.

The IATA, however, stated that the figure was lower than the 5.1 per cent recorded in the region in January.

The association, in a statement signed by its Director-General, Mr Alexandre de Juniac, said, “Year-on-year growth in international RPKs flown by airlines based in Africa halved in February, from the solid 5.1 per cent YoY pace in January, to a more modest 2.5 per cent in February.

“Business conditions remain challenging for many airlines in the region. Over recent months, the upward trend in passenger traffic has generally softened with growing concerns around the economic outlook in key countries in the region.”

He said the global passenger traffic results for February 2019 showed that total revenue passenger kilometres rose by 5.3 per cent, compared to February 2018.

He explained that this was the slowest rate of growth in more than a year but still in line with long-term demand trends.

According to him, monthly capacity increased by 5.4 per cent and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage point to 80.6 per cent, which is still high by historic standards.

“After January’s strong performance, we settled down a bit in February, in line with concerns about the broader economic outlook. Continuing trade tensions between the United States and China, and unresolved uncertainty over Brexit are also weighing on the outlook for travel,” he said.