European Airlines: Strong growth in May and year-to-date
Provisional June, July results maintain impetus
The Association of European Airlines, which comprises Europes most important network airlines, reports that in the first five months of 2011 passenger traffic has increased by almost 10% over the corresponding period of 2010.
The Association of European Airlines, which comprises Europes most important network airlines, reports that in the first five months of 2011 passenger traffic has increased by almost 10% over the corresponding period of 2010.
Aggregated across AEA's 36-strong membership, passenger boardings grew by 9.6% to almost 140 million, and using the more customary industry measure of passenger-kilometres the increase was 9.4%.
Passenger capacity, measured in seat-km, grew by 10.9% during the same period; consequently load factor, or seat occupancy rate, fell by a single percentage point, to 74.1% - nevertheless, historically a high figure for the early part of the year.
The cumulative figures were, evidently, inflated by the bounce back from the depressed 2010 baseline, when the Icelandic volcanic ash incident caused a severely depresses April figure. If the volcanic ash effect is discounted from the figures, the year-to-date traffic growth rate is more realistically around 6%.
With the exception of traffic to/from North Africa, which was understandably affected by political events in the region, all operating areas have seen broadly similar levels of growth. Cross-border European traffic, with the highest cumulative increase of 12.3%, was also the route area with the 2010 baseline most affected by the ash event.
Looking specifically at May traffic, the re-emergence of a volcanic threat, this time limited in scope and duration, appeared to have little effect on the figures. Total passenger traffic for the month grew by 8.9%, in other words some way ahead of the recent trend once ash effects have been discounted.
Growth in May exceeded 10% on transatlantic routes - both to North America and to Caribbean/Latin America - and was not far short of this figure within Europe and on sub-Saharan Africa and Far Eastern services. North Africa traffic remained very depressed and Middle Eastern market growth fell back to just 3.5%.
Provisional figures for June indicate another month of buoyant traffic, with a double-digit increase in intra-European volume contributing to an overall growth of about 7.5%. The outlook for July, derived from AEA's published weekly figures, is for a similarly robust outcome, with growth of about 8% driven by a particularly strong increase in Far Eastern traffic.
Passenger capacity, measured in seat-km, grew by 10.9% during the same period; consequently load factor, or seat occupancy rate, fell by a single percentage point, to 74.1% - nevertheless, historically a high figure for the early part of the year.
The cumulative figures were, evidently, inflated by the bounce back from the depressed 2010 baseline, when the Icelandic volcanic ash incident caused a severely depresses April figure. If the volcanic ash effect is discounted from the figures, the year-to-date traffic growth rate is more realistically around 6%.
With the exception of traffic to/from North Africa, which was understandably affected by political events in the region, all operating areas have seen broadly similar levels of growth. Cross-border European traffic, with the highest cumulative increase of 12.3%, was also the route area with the 2010 baseline most affected by the ash event.
Looking specifically at May traffic, the re-emergence of a volcanic threat, this time limited in scope and duration, appeared to have little effect on the figures. Total passenger traffic for the month grew by 8.9%, in other words some way ahead of the recent trend once ash effects have been discounted.
Growth in May exceeded 10% on transatlantic routes - both to North America and to Caribbean/Latin America - and was not far short of this figure within Europe and on sub-Saharan Africa and Far Eastern services. North Africa traffic remained very depressed and Middle Eastern market growth fell back to just 3.5%.
Provisional figures for June indicate another month of buoyant traffic, with a double-digit increase in intra-European volume contributing to an overall growth of about 7.5%. The outlook for July, derived from AEA's published weekly figures, is for a similarly robust outcome, with growth of about 8% driven by a particularly strong increase in Far Eastern traffic.
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