Despite the ban on carrying laptops from several Middle East airports to the US, the Middle Eastern carriers, which include three fast growing major Gulf airlines, posted a 10.8 percent traffic rise in April. Their capacity rose 8.9 percent and load factor climbed 1.3 percentage points to 76.5 percent.
However, in contrast to all the other regions, the April growth rate for Middle East airlines was slower than the five-year average growth pace. Moreover, in seasonally-adjusted terms, the region’s international traffic has tracked sideways since January, latest data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show.
IATA noted that the cabin ban on the carriage of large portable electronic devices (PEDs) from 10 Middle Eastern and African airports to the US appears to have weighed down Middle East-North America passenger traffic.
“April showed us that demand for air travel remains at very strong levels. Nevertheless there are indications that passengers are avoiding routes where the large PED ban is in place. As the US Department of Homeland Security considers expanding the ban, the need to find alternative measures to keep flying secure is critical. If the ban were extended to Europe-to-US flights, for example, we estimate a $1.4bn hit on productivity. And an IATA-commissioned survey of business travelers indicated that 15 percent would seek to reduce their travel in the face of a ban," said Alexandre de Juniac (pictured), IATA’s Director General and CEO.
IATA, which represents some 275 airlines comprising 83 percent of global air traffic, announced global passenger traffic data for April 2017 showing that demand (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 10.7 percent compared to April 2016, which was the fastest pace in six years. April capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 7.1 percent, and load factor climbed 2.7 percentage points to 82.0 percent- a record for the month of April.
The strong performance is supported by a pick-up in global economic activity and lower airfares. After adjusting for inflation, the price of air travel in the first quarter was around 10 percent lower than in the year-ago period. IATA estimated that falling airfares accounted for around half the demand growth in April.
April international passenger demand rose 12.5 percent compared to April 2016, with all regions recording double-digit year-over-year traffic increases for the first time in 12 years. Total capacity climbed 7.7 percent, and load factor climbed 3.5 percentage points to 81.5 percent.
Commenting on the impact of the large PED ban, IATA said that the route-level data from March (the most recent month available) show that RPKs flown by Middle East airlines to the US fell in year-on-year terms by 2.8 percent for the month. This was the first annual decline recorded for this market in at least seven years.
While traffic growth on the market segment already was slowing, the decline is consistent with some disruption from the PED ban that was announced 21 March, as well as a wider impact on inbound travel to the US from the Trump Administration’s proposed travel bans.
