IATA: Passenger Demand Grew as Air Cargo Declined in 2012

The Bottom Line:

“We are entering 2013 with some guarded optimism. Business confidence is up. The Eurozone situation is more stable than it was a year-ago and the US avoided the fiscal cliff. Significant headwinds remain. There is no end in sight for high fuel prices and GDP growth is projected at just 2.3%. But improved business confidence should help cargo markets to recover the lost ground from 2012. And the momentum built-up at the year-end should see the passenger business expand close to the 5% historical growth trend. 2013 will not be a banner year for profitability, but we should see some improvement on 2012,” said Tyler.

In its December outlook for 2013, IATA projected that 2013 would see 4.5% growth in passenger markets and 1.4% growth for cargo demand. That will contribute to an improvement in profitability from $6.7 billion (1.0% net profit margin) in 2012 to $8.4 billion (1.3% net profit margin) in 2013.

View full December traffic results (pdf)

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 RPKs account for about 37% of the total market. It is most important for North American airlines as it is about 67% of their operations. In Latin America, domestic travel accounts for 47% 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% of the region’s operations. It is less important for Europe and most of Africa where domestic travel represents just 11% and 12% of operations respectively. And it is negligible for Middle Eastern carriers for whom domestic travel represents just 6% of operations.
• Explanation of measurement terms: 
• RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometers measures actual passenger traffic
• ASK: Available Seat Kilometers measures available passenger capacity
• 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: Asia-Pacific 31.0%, North America 26.5%, Europe 25.3%, Middle East 8.7%, Latin America 6.0%, Africa 2.5%.

Total freight traffic market shares by region of carriers in terms of FTK are: Asia-Pacific 39.1%, North America 24.1%, Europe 20.6%, Middle East 11.8%, Latin America 3.2%, Africa 1.2%.