2/2/2017 IATADemandforAirTravelin2015SurgestoStrongestResultinFiveYears

PressReleaseNo.:4

Date:4February2016

Demand for Air Travel in

2015 Surges to Strongest
Result in Five Years
GenevaTheInternationalAirTransportAssociation
(IATA)announcedglobalpassengertrafficresultsfor
2015showingdemand(revenuepassengerkilometers
orRPKs)rose6.5%forthefullyearcomparedto2014.
ThiswasthestrongestresultsincethepostGlobal
FinancialCrisisreboundin2010andwellabovethe10
yearaverageannualgrowthrateof5.5%.While
economicfundamentalswereweakerin2015
comparedto2014,passengerdemandwasboostedby
lowerairfares.AfteradjustingfordistortionscausedbytheriseoftheUSdollar,globalairfareslastyear
wereapproximately5%lowerthanin2014.

2015 Passenger and Cargo Trafc

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Lastyearsverystrongperformance,againstaweakereconomicbackdrop,confirmsthestrong
demandforaviationconnectivity.Butevenastheappetiteforairtravelincreased,consumers
benefittedfromlowerfarescomparedto2014,saidTonyTyler,IATAsDirectorGeneralandCEO.
Annualcapacityrose5.6%lastyear,withtheresultthatloadfactorclimbed0.6percentagepointstoa
recordannualhighof80.3%.Allregionsexperiencedpositivetrafficgrowthin2015.Carriersinthe
AsiaPacificregionaccountedforonethirdofthetotalannualincreaseintraffic.

DEC2015VS.DEC2014 RPKGROWTH ASKGROWTH PLF

International 5.6% 5.9% 78.1

Domestic 5.1% 4.2% 79.9

TotalMarket 5.4% 5.3% 78.8

YTD2015VS.YTD2014 RPKGROWTH ASKGROWTH PLF

International 6.5% 5.9% 79.7

Domestic 6.3% 5.2% 81.5

TotalMarket 6.5% 5.6% 80.3

InternationalPassengerMarkets

Internationalpassengertrafficrose6.5%in2015comparedto2014.Capacityrose5.9%andload
factorrose0.5percentagepointsto79.7%.Allregionsrecordedyearoveryearincreasesindemand.

AsiaPacificcarriersrecordedademandincreaseof8.2%comparedto2014,whichwasthe
largestincreaseamongthethreelargestregions.Demandwasstimulatedbya7.3%increasein
thenumberofdirectairportconnectionsintheregion,resultingintimesavingsfortravelers.
Capacityrose6.4%,pushinguploadfactor1.3percentagepointsto78.2%.

Europeancarriersinternationaltrafficclimbed5.0%in2015.Capacityrose3.8%andloadfactor
increased1.0percentagepointto82.6%,highestamongtheregions.Thehealthyresultinpart
wasattributabletoapickupinconsumerspendingintheEurozoneaswellasamoderate
increaseinflightfrequencies.Trafficgrowthslowedtowardtheendoftheyearowingtostrikesat
LufthansaandtheshutdownofRussiasTransaero.

NorthAmericanairlinessawdemandrise3.2%in2015,broadlyunchangedfromthegrowth
achievedin2014.Capacityrose3.1%,edginguploadfactor0.1percentagepointsto81.8%.

MiddleEastcarriershadthestrongestannualtrafficgrowthat10.5%.Asaresult,theshareof
internationaltrafficcarriedbyMiddleEastairlinesreached14.2%,surpassingtheirNorthAmerican
counterparts(13.4%).Capacitygrowthof13.2%exceededthedemandgains,pushingdownload
factor1.7percentagepointsto76.4%.
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LatinAmericanairlinestrafficrose9.3%in2015.Capacityrose9.2%andloadfactorinchedup
0.1percentagepointsto80.1%.Whilekeyregionaleconomies,particularlyBrazil,havebeen
struggling,overalltraffichasbeenrobust.

Africanairlineshadtheslowestannualdemandgrowth,up3.0%,althoughthiswasasignificant
improvementoverthe0.9%annualgrowthachievedin2014.Withcapacityupjusthalfasmuchas
traffic,loadfactorclimbed1percentagepointto68.5%.Internationaltrafficrosestronglyinthe
secondhalfof2015,inconjunctionwithajumpintradeactivitytoandfromtheregion.

DomesticPassengerMarkets

Domesticairtravelrose6.3%in2015.Allmarketsshowedgrowth,ledbyIndiaandChinabutthere
waswidevariance.Capacityrose5.2%andloadfactorwas81.5%,up0.9percentagepointsover
2014.

DEC2015VS.DEC2014 RPKGROWTH ASKGROWTH PLF

Australia 3.2% 1.2% 77.9

Brazil 5.4% 4.0% 80.1

ChinaP.R. 8.2% 8.2% 76.7

India 25.0% 25.2% 87.5

Japan 1.2% 2.9% 64.7

RussianFederation 3.4% 8.0% 70.0

US 4.9% 4.1% 84.1

Domestic 5.1% 4.2% 79.9

Brazilsdomesticairtravelrosejust0.8%in2015,reflectingthecountrysdeterioratingeconomic
situation.Traffictrendeddownwardthroughouttheyear.

USdomestictrafficclimbed4.9%lastyear,helpedbysolideconomicgrowth.Thiswasthefastest
rateofincreasesince2004andthefirsttimesince2003thatdomestictrafficgrowthsurpassed
internationalgrowth.Theloadfactorreachedadomesticrecordhighof85.4%.

TheBottomLine:Aviationdeliveredstrongresultsfortheglobaleconomyin2015,enabling
connectivityandhelpingtodriveeconomicdevelopment.Thevalueofaviationiswellunderstoodby
friendsandfamilieswhomaviationbringstogether,bybusinesstravelersmeetingclientsindistant
cities,andparticularlybythoseforwhomaviationisalifelineintimesofcrisis.

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Itisverydisappointingtoseethatsomegovernmentsstillwronglybelievethatthevalueoftaxesand
chargesthatcanbeextractedfromairtransportoutweighsthebenefitseconomicandsocialof
connectivity.ThemostrecentexampleisthedramaticincreaseintheItalianCouncilTaxleviedonair
passengers.This3338%hikewilldamageItalianeconomiccompetitiveness,reducepassenger
numbersbyover755,000andGDPbyEUR146millionperyear.Anestimated2,300jobsayearwillbe
lost.Atatimewhentheglobaleconomyisshowingsignsofweakening,governmentsshouldbelooking
forwaystostimulatespending,notdiscourageit.

ViewDecemberairpassengerresults(pdf)

Formoreinformation,pleasecontact:
CorporateCommunications
Tel:+41227702967
Email:corpcomms@iata.org

NotesforEditors:

IATA(InternationalAirTransportAssociation)representssome260airlinescomprising83%of
globalairtraffic.

Youcanfollowusathttp://twitter.com/iata2pressfornewsspeciallycateredforthemedia.

Allfiguresareprovisionalandrepresenttotalreportingattimeofpublicationplusestimatesfor
missingdata.Historicfiguresmayberevised.

DomesticRPKsaccountedforabout36%ofthetotalmarket.ItismostimportantforNorth
Americanairlinesasitisabout66%oftheiroperations.InLatinAmerica,domestictravelaccounts
for46%ofoperations,primarilyowingtothelargeBrazilianmarket.ForAsiaPacificcarriers,the
largemarketsinIndia,ChinaandJapanmeanthatdomestictravelaccountsfor45%ofthe
regionsoperations.ItislessimportantforEuropeandmostofAfricawheredomestictravel
representsjust11%and14%ofoperations,respectively.AnditisnegligibleforMiddleEastern
carriersforwhomdomestictravelrepresentsjust4%ofoperations.

Explanationofmeasurementterms:

RPK:Revenuepassengerkilometersmeasuresactualpassengertraffic

ASK:Availableseatkilometersmeasuresavailablepassengercapacity

PLF:Passengerloadfactoris%ofASKsused.

IATAstatisticscoverinternationalanddomesticscheduledairtrafficforIATAmemberandnon
memberairlines.

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TotalpassengertrafficmarketsharesbyregionofcarriersintermsofRPKare:AsiaPacific33.3%,
Europe23.1%,NorthAmerica24.8%,MiddleEast10.4%,LatinAmerica5.9%,andAfrica2.4%.

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