Global passenger traffic demand increased 7.2% year-on-year in October, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
In addition to the growth in demand, (measured in revenue passenger kilometers, or RPKs), capacity grew 6.2% and load factor climbed 0.8 percentage points to 80.8%, which was a record for the month.
October’s performance was a strong bounce-back after the hurricane-related disruptions in September. Domestic and international travel growth largely was in balance.
IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: "As expected, the recent severe weather in the Americas region had only a temporary impact on the healthy travel demand we have seen this year, and we remain on course for another year of above-trend growth."
Asia-Pacific airlines led all regions with traffic growth of 10.3%. European carriers’ October demand climbed 6.2% year-on-year, which was a slowdown compared to the 7.2% year-on-year growth recorded for September.
Middle East carriers saw a 6.9% increase in demand; North American traffic was up 3.7%; Latin American airlines saw an 8.7% increase, while Africa airlines’ traffic was up 7.5%.
Domestic demand climbed 7.2% in October compared to October 2016, while capacity rose 6.6%. India and China continued to lead all markets, with double-digit growth rates.
