IATA Press Release

For immediate release

Date: 30 December 2008 No: 58

News

International Cargo Down 13.5% in November
-Passenger Declines by 4.6%-

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced results for November showing a 4.6% drop in international passenger traffic and a 13.5% drop in international cargo. International capacity dropped by 1.0%. The November international passenger load factors stood at 72.7% which is a decline of approximately 3 percentage points over the same month last year.

“The 13.5% drop in international cargo is shocking. As air cargo handles 35% of the value of goods traded internationally, it clearly shows the rapid fall in global trade and the broadening impact of the economic slowdown. By comparison, this is largest drop since 2001, in the aftermath of September 11,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

“The industry is now shrinking by all measures. The 1.0% capacity cut in international passenger markets in November could not keep pace with the 4.6% fall in passenger demand. We can expect deep losses in the fourth quarter,” said Bisignani.

International Passenger Traffic

The November passenger decline of 4.6% is a considerable worsening from both the 1.3% demand contraction in October and the 2.9% fall in September.
Asia-Pacific carriers face the most difficult operating environment with a 9.7% decline in November, following a 6.1% contraction in October. The region also had the most aggressive capacity cuts at -5.1%. While Chinese domestic traffic rebounded after the Olympics, travel to and from international markets continues to decline, reflecting the weakness in both global trade and consumer confidence.
North American carriers saw international traffic decline by 4.8% - the second largest drop among the regions. Until August, the region’s carriers had been shifting capacity to international markets. With the near collapse of the investment banking sector and consequent reductions in business travel, North Atlantic travel slumped. Carriers have started to cut international capacity with a 0.8% drop in November (following 0.4% growth in October)
European carriers saw international traffic drop by 3.4% as all the region’s major markets (intra-Europe, North Atlantic, and Asia) slumped.
Smaller emerging markets fared better. African carriers saw traffic decline by 1.6%. This is a considerable improvement from the 12.9% drop in October, resulting from stronger intra-African traffic. Middle Eastern carriers saw traffic increase by 5.6%. This is up from 3.5% growth in October, but represents a step-change from the double-digit expansion that characterized growth prior to the current financial crisis. Latin American carriers saw a slight decline in growth to 3.3% (compared to 4.5% growth in October), buoyed by the region’s positive, albeit slower, economic growth.

International Freight Traffic

Asia-Pacific carriers (representing 44.6% of global freight) saw freight traffic fall by 16.9% in November—the largest decline of any region. As freight accounts for a larger percentage of revenues for the Asia-Pacific carriers, fourth quarter profits for the region’s carriers will be disproportionately (and negatively) impacted by the downturn in the global air freight market.
Double-digit freight declines were also experienced by Latin American carriers (-15.7%), North American carriers (-14.4%) and European carriers (-11.0%). Freight traffic for Middle Eastern carriers turned negative (-1.6%), following 1.0% growth in October. African carriers, while being the only region posting freight growth (2.2%), saw a decline from the 3.0% growth posted in October. Plummeting business confidence and the continuing turmoil in financial markets indicates that the worsening trend will be continued in December.

“With no end in sight for the worsening global economy, the 2008 gloom will carry over into the new year. Relief in the oil price has been outstripped by the falls in demand and capacity cuts are not keeping pace. The industry is back in intensive care. Improving efficiency everywhere will be theme for 2009,” said Bisignani.

View full November traffic results

Editors Notes:

IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.
Explanation of measurement terms:

RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometres measures actual passenger traffic
ASK: Available Seat Kilometres measures available passenger capacity
PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used. In comparison of 2008 to 2007, PLF indicates point differential between the periods compared
FTK: Freight Tonne Kilometres measures actual freight traffic
ATK: Available Tonne Kilometres measures available total capacity (combined passenger and cargo)

IATA statistics cover international scheduled air traffic for airlines based in those markets; domestic traffic is not included.
All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data. Historic figures may be revised.
International passenger traffic market shares by region in terms of RPK are: Europe 34.2%, Asia Pacific 31.1%, North America 18.8%, Middle East 9.1%, Latin America 4.4%, Africa 2.4%
International freight traffic market shares by region in terms of FTK are: Asia Pacific 44.6%, Europe 27.4%, North America 17.0%, Middle East 7.8%, Latin America 2.1%, Africa 1.1%


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International Air Transport Association

For immediate release

Date: 26 March 2009 No: 11

News

Freight Stabilizes, Passenger Drops

Geneva - The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today announced international traffic statistics for the month of February showing continuing deterioration in demand.

Passenger volumes fell sharply to 10.1% below 2008 levels (from the -5.6% recorded in January). The 5.9% reduction in capacity - the most aggressive since the crisis began - could not keep pace with the fall in demand, pushing the February load factor down to 69.9% (3.2 percentage points below the same month in the previous year).

February international freight volumes were 22.1% below 2008 levels. This is the third consecutive month at more than 20% below previous year levels (-23.2 in January and -22.6% in December).

“Gloom continues. The sharp drop in February passenger traffic shows the broadening scope of the crisis. Freight traffic, which began its decline in June 2008 before passenger markets were hit, has now had three consecutive months in the -22% to -23% range. We may have found a bottom to the freight decline, but the magnitude of the drop means that it will take time to recover,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

Passenger

The decline in demand for international travel outpaced capacity adjustments in all regions.

African carriers saw the largest demand decline (-13.7%), outpacing even the most aggressive capacity cuts (-11.8%).

Asia-Pacific carriers saw passenger traffic decline by 12.8%, far outstripping the -7.8% capacity adjustment. The region’s export dependant economies continue to suffer, impacting both business and leisure travel - particularly to long-haul destinations. While this may be somewhat exaggerated by Chinese New Year (which took place in January 2009 and February 2008), the sharp downward drop from the -8.4% recorded in January shows the deepening impact of the crisis on this region.

North American carriers recorded a 12.0% drop in demand, also outpacing an aggressive -7.1% capacity adjustment. Consumer confidence remains low in what is traditionally a weak month for travel.

Europe’s carriers saw traffic fall in line with the global average at -10.1%. Long-haul markets to the US and Asia have been particularly hard hit reflecting negative economic sentiment such as that seen in Germany where business confidence hit new lows in both February and again this month.

Latin American carriers most closely matched demand drops (-3.8%) with capacity adjustment (-2.4%). A slowdown in commodities is impacting trade - particularly with the US and Asia.

Middle East carriers bucked the trend of falling demand with an increase of 0.4% in international passenger traffic. But an aggressive capacity increase of 7.3% drove load factors down 4.7 percentage points to 68.1%.

Cargo

All cargo markets saw extremely weak demand continue as a result of the collapse in international trade in goods and the much lower shipment of components by manufacturers. However, the level of air freight appears to have found a floor over the past three months. The recently released Eurozone Purchase Managers Indices, being useful forward looking indicators for cargo traffic, showed a slight and unexpected improvement in March - although it remained in negative territory.

Middle Eastern carriers experienced the smallest fall in demand (-4.8%). They were also the only region to increase capacity (+5.4%).

African carriers had the worst performance with a 30.7% drop in international freight traffic due to a loss of market share on long-haul routes combined with the impact of the economic downturn.

Asian carriers - the largest players in cargo - saw demand fall by 24.7% as the region’s high-value export-dependant industries were hard hit by falling consumer demand in the major markets of Europe, the US and Japan. Japanese exports have almost halved from February 2008 levels.

European and North American carriers saw cargo demand decline 23.1% and 21.8% respectively. Government stimulus plans have not yet rekindled consumer demand.

Latin American carriers experienced a demand drop of 22.8% driven by weakening demand for the region’s commodities.

Bisignani reminded governments that air transport is a catalyst for economic activity and called for policy changes to help them to stimulate economies by playing this role effectively. “Governments are spending trillions to bailout the banks and trillions more to stimulate economies. By comparison, our requests to governments are cost-effective and cheap. First, air transport needs a tax structure that will help preserve industry jobs and allow air transport to play its role as a catalyst for broad economic activity. Governments must repeal the US$6.9 billion in new taxes put on the industry in 2009 to help pay for banking bailouts - despite being branded as environmental measures. More broadly governments must replace the mindset of taxing aviation as a luxury or a sin with a strategic approach that recognises and fosters the industry’s critical economic role in connecting people to business and products to markets. Second, airlines need the commercial freedoms to be able to merge or consolidate where it makes business sense - even across national borders,” said Bisignani.

Bisignani also warned that the burden of the crisis requires an industry response. “This is not just an airline crisis. Efficiency must be a priority for the entire value chain. A 25% reduction in landing charges at Singapore Changi Airport and a 50% reduction at Malaysian Airports are major steps in the right direction. These are model programmes for others to follow,” said Bisignani.

“The priority for airlines around the world is survival - conserving cash and adjusting capacity to match demand. This means re-sizing and re-shaping the industry to deal with the US$62 billion (12%) fall in revenues expected this year. Airlines will be making some tough decisions to stay afloat as we head for industry losses of US$4.7 billion in 2009,” said Bisignani.

View full February traffic results

-IATA-

Contact:
Anthony Concil
Director Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org

Notes for editors:

IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 230 airlines comprising 93% of scheduled international air traffic.
Explanation of measurement terms:

RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometres measures actual passenger traffic
ASK: Available Seat Kilometres measures available passenger capacity
PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used. In comparison of 2007 to 2006, PLF indicates point differential between the periods compared
FTK: Freight Tonne Kilometres measures actual freight traffic
ATK: Available Tonne Kilometres measures available total capacity (combined passenger and cargo)

IATA statistics cover international scheduled air traffic; domestic traffic is not included.
All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data.
International passenger traffic market shares by region in terms of RPK are: Europe 32.5%, Asia Pacific 32.5%, North America 17.2%, Middle East 10.9%, Latin America 5.1%, Africa 1.9%
International freight traffic market shares by region in terms of FTK are: Asia Pacific 42.9%, Europe 27.0%, North America 16.7%, Middle East 10.3%, Latin America 2.2%, Africa 0.9%


	International Air Transport Association 800 Place Victoria, P.O. Box 113 Montreal, Quebec, Canada H4Z 1M1.


	IMPORTANT PRIVACY INFORMATION: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) does not sell or rent your email address to any third party. You received this email message due to your membership, participation or interest in IATA. IATA sends various advertisements, promotions and special announcements regarding products and services that we feel may be of interest to you. You may unsubscribe from the IATA e-mailing list at any time. This message was sent by IATA using Responsys Interact.