Global air passenger traffic demand up 7.2 percent in October: IATA

[December 04, 2017]  Global demand for air travel climbed 7.2 percent in October, rebounding after September was disrupted by hurricanes, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday.

 A plane is seen during take off in New Jersey behind the Statue of Liberty in New York's Harbor as seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York February 20, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

"As expected, the recent severe weather in the Americas region had only a temporary impact on the healthy travel demand we have seen this year," IATA's CEO, Alexandre de Juniac, said.

It said airline capacity rose 6.2 percent and load factor - a measure of how full planes are - increased by 0.8 percentage points to 80.8 percent.

IATA said it expected passenger traffic demand to continue its upwards trend in 2018. It will on Tuesday present its updated economic forecasts for the industry at a media event in Geneva.

(Reporting by Stratos Karakasidis; Editing by Victoria Bryan)

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