Air Passenger Growth in Africa hit 7.5% in 2012 - IATA

Aviation Nigeria

The International Air Transport Association (IITA) has said that the air transport market recorded a solid growth during 2012.

Globally, air passenger traffic rose 5.3% as cargo demand fell during last year and this helped airlines deliver an estimated $6.7 billion profit in 2012 despite high fuel prices.

According to the association, African airlines had a solid year of passenger growth up 7.5% in 2012 with capacity expansion of 7.1% traffic growth and an improved load factor of 67.1%.

IITA an international trade association represents over 240 airlines comprising 84% of scheduled international air traffic and has pointed at Africa's economic expansion being responsible for the air transport growth.

“African airlines had a solid year of growth, up 7.5%, as the continent’s economic expansion drove traffic demand, said IATA when it announced the global air passenger traffic for 2012 on January 31, 2013.

Africa’s freight capacity also grew 9.2%, outstripping demand. The freight load factor fell to just 24.7%, the lowest of any region by a significant margin, IATA said.

“Passenger demand grew strongly in 2012 despite the economic bad news that dominated much of the last twelve months. This demonstrates just how integral global air travel is for today’s connected world. At the same time, near-record load factors illustrate the extreme care with which airlines manage capacity. Growth and high aircraft utilization combined to help airlines deliver an estimated $6.7 billion profit in 2012 despite high fuel prices. But with a net profit margin of just 1.0% the industry is only just keeping its head above water,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

In its December 2013 outlook, IATA has projected a 4.5% growth in passenger markets and 1.4% growth for cargo demand saying “that will contribute to an improvement in profitability from $6.7 billion (1.0% net profit margin) in 2012 to $8.4 billion (1.3% net profit margin) in 2013.”

IATA was formed in April 1945 and has about 243 members from more than 126 countries of the world. The association made the 2013 projections based on the fact that business confidence was up, the stability of the Eurozone situation and the avoidance of the US fiscal cliff. IATA believes business confidence will help cargo markets to recover the lost ground from 2012.

Africa’s economic expansion has driven the air transport market to record a solid growth during the year 2012, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said.