LONDON–European airlines have reported increased passenger traffic for the second month running reflecting a tentative improvement in the region’s economy, the International Air Transport Association, or IATA, said Wednesday.
The improvement contributed to a 6% growth in overall passenger traffic for June, compared with last year, and pushed the passenger load factor to 81.7%. Specifically, European carriers recorded 4.7% growth over the previous June and 3.4% in capacity pushing load factors to 83.2%.
“The stability in the euro zone, albeit tentative, is giving a boost to business and consumer confidence. And the load factor shows that airlines are efficiently meeting increasing demand for travel,” IATA Chief Executive Officer Tony Tyler said.
Emerging markets remained the best performers with Middle East carriers and African airlines each reporting growth of 11% measured in revenue passenger kilometers. Asia-Pacific performance accounted for half the increase in growth but volatility in the region may prevent any further acceleration.
Mr. Tyler warned of other headwinds, notably high fuel costs and slowing growth in the BRICS economies including China.
“The industry is still on track to make $4.00 per passenger this year for a global net profit of $12.7 billion. But there is little margin for error and even a small change in the second half of the year could shift the outlook significantly,” Mr. Tyler said.