AFRICAN airlines’ international passenger demand
increased by 5.5% year-on-year during 2013, the International Air Transport
Association (Iata) said on Thursday.
This increase was slightly above the global average
of 5.4%; however, it was lower than the continent’s 7.5% year-on-year growth of
2012.
“Overall, the demand environment is strong, with
robust economic growth of local economies and continued development of
internationally trading industries.
“However, some parts of the continent have shown
weakness, including South Africa, which recently experienced a slowdown in its
economy, with a corresponding impact on the demand base for international air
travel,” Iata said.
African airlines’ capacity, with regard to
international flights, also increased by 5.2%, with the load factor rising by
1.9 percentage points to 69%, which was the lowest among the regions monitored
by Iata.
Meanwhile, Iata said overall full-year traffic
results – including international and domestic figures – showed a 5.2% increase
in passenger demand, which aligned with the average yearly growth rate of the
past 30 years, while Africa’s overall growth also amounted to 5.2%.
Global capacity rose by 4.8% and the load factor
averaged 79.5%, which was a 4% increase on 2012.
“We saw healthy demand growth in 2013 despite the
very difficult economic environment. There was a clear improvement trend over
the course of the year, which bodes well for 2014. Last year’s demand
performance demonstrates the essential and growing role that aviation-enabled
connectivity plays in our world. And, with system-wide load factors at 79.5%,
it is also clear that airlines are continuing to drive efficiencies to an
ever-higher level,” Iata director-general and CEO Tony Tyler said.
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