Global air passenger demand growth slows in June: IATA

[August 04, 2016]  (Reuters) - Global demand for air travel rose 5.2 percent in June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday, representing a slowdown from growth rates seen earlier in the year as attacks weigh on bookings.

A Swiss airline plane prepares to land at Cointrin airport in Geneva March 20, 2012. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
 

Capacity measured in available seat kilometers rose faster than demand at 5.6 percent, meaning that load factor - a measure of how full planes are - dropped 0.3 percentage points to 80.7 percent, IATA said in its monthly traffic update.

"The fragile and uncertain economic backdrop, political shocks and a wave of terrorist attacks are all contributing to a softer demand environment," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said in a statement.

Major European airlines such as Lufthansa <LHAG.DE>, Air France-KLM <AIRF.PA> and British Airways owner IAG <ICAG.L> have reported weaker demand for long-haul routes to Europe as a result of attacks in France, Belgium and the attempted coup in Turkey.

(Reporting by Wout Vergauwen; Editing by Victoria Bryan)

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