Global air traffic suffered another devastating plunge last month, with passenger and cargo traffic down 2.9 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, compared to year ago levels.
International load factors meanwhile, tumbled 4.4 percentage points to 74.8 percent in September, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread. We have not seen such a decline in passenger traffic since SARS in 2003,” IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said.
“Even the good news that the oil price has fallen to half its July peak is not enough to offset the impact of the drop in demand. At this rate, losses may be even deeper than our forecast $5.2 billion for this year,” he added.
IATA noted this is the first time since the SARS crisis in 2003 that global passenger traffic has shrunk. Capacity cuts were not able to keep pace with the fall in demand while September load factors in all regions fell compared to August.
For September, all major regions reported that passenger traffic shrank, with the exception of Latin American carriers which saw an increase of 1.7 percent. But even this is shockingly down from the 11.9 percent growth of the previous month.
Up to August, the drop in international passenger traffic was isolated to Asia Pacific carriers. The economies of the region’s two major growth markets — China and India — slowed and Japan saw industrial production drop five percent in August. The sharp downturn in world trade disproportionately impacted Asia-Pacific carriers with a 6.8 percent drop in traffic in September.
The steady five percent international growth of North American carriers turned into a 0.9 percent contraction while European carriers saw traffic drop from last year (-0.5 percent) as the region’s economies head for recession.
After years of double-digit growth, passenger traffic by Middle Eastern carriers turned to a negative 2.8 percent. While the region’s oil-based economy remains strong, the large portion of transit traffic exposes the region’s carriers to the global economic weakness. African carriers posted the largest decline in traffic (-7.8 percent), a continuation of the previous month’s trend.
Meanwhile, IATA pointed out that this is the worst decline for cargo traffic since the technology bubble burst in 2001.
Declines in air freight have slowed year-to-date growth to 0.1 percent, with all regions except the Middle East and Africa reporting negative results.
The most alarming drop was with Asia Pacific carriers — the largest players in the market. The region’s carriers reported a 10.6 percent decline.
Europe and North American carriers, which had seen flat growth through August, saw cargo traffic fall 6.8 percent, and six percent, respectively.
“The industry crisis is deepening—along with the crisis in the global economy. Airlines, like all other businesses, are facing enormous challenges. But unlike other companies, they are denied some basic commercial freedoms—access to markets and to global capital—that could help them manage their business in this difficult time,” Bisignani said. – Mary Ann Ll. Reyes