The International Air Transport Association, IATA, has said African airlines recorded the highest demand growth globally with February traffic up by 12.7 per cent compared to same month in 2015.
This was contained in IATA’s global passenger traffic results for February which was issued by its Director General, Mr Tony Tyler, and obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, April 12, in Lagos.
According to the statement, the increase indicates that African carriers are regaining market share through efforts to rationalize networks and enhance revenue management systems, after several difficult years.
The statement read: “It also aligns with a jump in exports from Africa. Capacity rose 13.4 per cent, and load factor slipped 0.4 percentage points to 63.7 per cent.”
It further noted that there was a strong growth in air travel demand for both domestic and international traffic globally.
The statement said that the total Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPKs) rose to 8.6 per cent, compared to the same month last year.
It added that monthly capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) increased by 9.6 per cent, and load factor declined 0.7 percentage points to 77.8 per cent.
“In the first two months of 2016, demand for passenger connectivity is off to its strongest start in eight years.
“However, February was the first month since the middle of 2015 in which capacity growth exceeded demand, which caused the global load factor to decline,” the statement said.
