Global airlines expect to record a strong final quarter of the year as economies around the world pick up.
Passenger traffic results for October showed a “moderate acceleration” of the robust demand trend of the last few months, according to latest Iata figures.
Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 6.6% compared to October 2012, an improvement over the September increase of 5.2%. A capacity increase of 6.5% meant that load factor was virtually flat at 78.9%.
Iata director general and chief executive Tony Tyler said: “October traffic results reinforce expectations for a strong fourth-quarter traffic performance in line with rising business confidence and better economic performance in the major advanced economies.”
He added: “In 2013 the airline industry will carry more than three billion passengers in a year for the first time. And on January 1, 2014, we will celebrate a century of scheduled commercial aviation.
“These twin landmarks provide an opportunity to reflect on the enormous contribution aviation makes to all of our lives.
“That contribution comes not from the fees and taxes with which governments continue to burden aviation and air travellers, but rather from the ability to bring people together, connect people to markets and to create opportunities for greater understanding among cultures.”
European carriers’ international traffic climbed 5.4% in October over the same month last year on a 4.6% rise in capacity, pushing load factor up 0.6 percentage points to 81.0%.
The eurozone economy stopped contracting in the second quarter and has continued the modest recovery in the second half of 2013. The pace of economic growth has slowed, however, from 0.3% in the second quarter to just 0.1% in the third, as the recovery remains “fragile and patchy,” Iata said.
However, China’s domestic traffic jumped 12.3%, the highest for any market and consistent with robust economic activity in the country. October capacity rose 11.7% and load factor grew 0.4 percentage points to 80.9%.