IATA sees positive signs for airlines in 2018

GENEVA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Thursday that global passenger traffic for November 2017 showed continued robust demand with Asian-Pacific airlines showing strong results.

November international passenger demand rose 8.1 percent compared to a year earlier, an increase from 7.3 percent in October, IATA said in a statement.

All regions showed growth, led for the third straight month by carriers in the Asia-Pacific region with total capacity climbing 6.6 percent, and load factor increasing by 1.1 percentage points to 78.2 percent.

"The airline industry is in a good place entering 2018. November's strong demand gives the industry momentum. The number of unique city-pair connections now tops 20,000," said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA's director general and CEO.

European carriers saw demand rise by 7.9 percent in November with economic conditions in the region remaining very favorable and business confidence recently having risen to its strongest level in seven years, noted IATA.

"Passengers not only have more travel choices than ever, the cost of travel in real terms has never been cheaper," said De Juniac.

IATA said that airlines are rewarding their shareholders with normal levels of profitability. "We expect 2018 to be the fourth year in a row where the industry's return on invested capital will exceed the cost of capital," said de Juniac. Enditem