IATA: Strong February Performance, But Outlook Remains Fragile

The latest study by Oxford Economics on the global benefits of aviation calculates that the industry supports 56.6 million jobs and enables $2.2 trillion of economic activity. With 35% of the value of goods traded internationally travelling by air, the connectivity provided by air transport is one of the key enablers of global business.

“Aviation has transformed the world into a global village. We did this even while making profit margins of less than 1% in a policy framework best described as ‘tax-and-restrict’ in many markets. Aviation could achieve much more with competitiveness-enabling policies that support sustainable growth,” said Tyler.

View February traffic results

- IATA -

For more information, please contact:
Corporate Communications
Tel: +41 22 770 2967
Email: corpcomms@iata.org

Notes for Editors:

• IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents some 240 airlines comprising 84% of global air traffic.
• You can follow us at http://twitter.com/iata2press for news specially catered for the media.
•  Domestic Markets: Domestic RPKs account for about 37.0% of the total market. It is most important for North American airlines as it is about 66.5% of their operations. In Latin America, domestic travel accounts for 47.3% of operations, primarily owing to the large Brazilian market. For Asia-Pacific carriers, the large markets in India, China and Japan mean that domestic travel accounts for 42.2% of the region’s operations. It is less important for Europe and most of Africa where domestic travel represents just 11.0% and 11.6% of operations respectively. And it is negligible for Middle Eastern carriers for whom domestic travel represents just 5.5% of operations.
• Explanation of measurement terms:
  • RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometers measures actual passenger traffic 
  • ASK: Available Seat Kilometers measures available passenger capacit
  • PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used.
  • FTK: Freight Tonne Kilometers measures actual freight traffic
  • AFTK: Available Freight Tonne Kilometers measures available total freight capacity
  • FLF: Freight Load Factor is % of AFTKs used
• IATA statistics cover international and domestic scheduled air traffic for IATA member and non-member airlines.
• All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data.   Historic figures may be revised.
• Total passenger traffic market shares by region of carriers in terms of RPK are: Europe 25.4%, Asia-Pacific 31.3%, North America 26.3%, Middle East 8.3%, Latin America 6.2%, Africa 2.4%.

Total freight traffic market shares by region of carriers in terms of FTK are: Asia-Pacific 40.2%, Europe 21.7%, North America 23.1%, Middle East 11%, Latin America 2.9%, Africa 1.1%.