Blue Swan Daily, 31 May 2019 – Global trade has weakened, trade wars are intensifying and fuel prices have risen significantly. In addition, geopolitical tensions are leading to airspace closures in key regions. It is no wonder that IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said the airline industry is “seeing some headwinds” and noted the “last six months have been tough for airlines” ahead of this weekend’s IATA AGM in Seoul, South Korea.
Solid international passenger growth was the best of a bad set of performance metrics revealed by IATA for Apr-2019 as the industry continued to struggle in the fast-changing operational landscape. International passenger demand rose +5.1% year-on-year. All regions recorded traffic increases, led by airlines in Europe. Total capacity climbed +3.8%, and load factor climbed 1.1ppts to 82.5%.…read more
