Airline traffic remains 10% below last year

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According to the latest statistics from International Air Transport Association (IATA), passenger traffic on international scheduled services of member airlines continued to show a drop in January 2002, but the speed of decline was slower.  

In January the month-on-month passenger traffic decline was 2 percentage points better than December, at 10% below the January 2001 level. South American airlines meanwhile accelerated their decline due to local economic difficulties and this reduced the average performance.

Of equal significance - from airlines point of view- was the achievement of cuts in capacity, which fell into line with the fall in traffic, and will minimise their financial losses. At nearly 71%, average passenger load factor in January 2002 was nearly a full point higher than in January 2001.

Central and South American airlines, at more than 21%, showed the steepest fall in January passenger traffic. North American carriers showed a 12% fall, but European and Far Eastern carriers experienced a less than 8% drop.

Source: Extracted from IATA Monthly International Statistics.
More detailed reports may be purchased from the IATA Aviation Information & Research Department, London.
Email: stats@iata.org