Captain Izham Ismail elected to IATA Board of Governors

 

Boston, 4 October 2021: Captain Izham Ismail, Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), has been appointed to the Board of Governors (BoG) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) during its 77^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Boston. Izham will serve a three-year term until 2024, and in his role as member of the BoG, he will participate in providing policy directives and guidance to IATA industry committees and to their subsidiary bodies.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Group Chairman of the MAG, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said, “This is indeed a huge recognition of Captain Izham’s leadership, having been in the industry for more than 40 years. His vast knowledge and experience encompass all aspect of the airline business – commercial or operational, and I am proud that an international body such as IATA values the contribution that Izham will bring to the BoG. On behalf of the Board of Directors and employees of MAG, I congratulate Captain Izham and wish him all the best in representing not just Malaysian but all airlines in the Asia Pacific Region.”

 

Captain Izham added, “I am honoured to be elected and very excited to start work on the BoG. Airlines globally are still reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, suffering huge losses which is expected to continue until 2022. I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on the BoG towards charting the path to recovery besides driving further growth and development of the aviation industry across the globe.”

 

Captain Izham is also actively involved in other industry related bodies such as the oneworld Alliance Governing Board, Executive Committee of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) and Board of Directors of Tourism Malaysia. 

IATA represents some 290 airlines in 120 countries, comprising 82% of global air traffic and plays a key role in helping formulate global policies on critical aviation-related issues.

-Malaysia Airlines.

Malaysia Airlines to Introduce Digital Travel Health Pass, Reopening Travel to The World

 

KLIA, 24 February 2021: Malaysia Airlines is excited to announce its plan to introduce the Digital Travel Health Pass, yet another milestone the airline is taking on its path to empower passengers to travel around the world once again with confidence and ease. The Digital Travel Health Pass will incorporate some modules of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Travel Pass that have been developed on the basic principle to allow travelers to be in control of their journey while travelling around the world.

 

The Digital Travel Health Pass, which will be integrated with the Malaysia Airlines mobile app, will kickstart and streamline a passenger’s travel journey, with simple easy-to-follow steps before they start on their travel. Passengers can easily make appointments with certified medical partners to carry out a COVID-19 RT-PCR test or include their COVID-19 vaccination certificate on their mobile phones, making the process of tackling their travel requirements much more straightforward and manageable for the everyday traveler. In addition, passengers can verify their travel eligibility with the airline before their travels, making them aware and informed of the constantly developing travel policies worldwide

 

The Digital Travel Health Pass will also integrate modules from the IATA Travel Pass that enable passengers to create a digital passport, verify their test/vaccination requirements and status, and share their “OK to Travel” status with the relevant authorities. This digital ID on the App will pave the way for Malaysia Airlines’ passengers to eventually take advantage of contactless technology options throughout the travel processes. 

 

According to Group Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Aviation Group, Izham Ismail, “We are excited to make history together with IATA, and help reopen travel nationally and worldwide. Part of our promise to ensure passengers can Fly Confidently, the Digital Travel Health Pass will open the way for us to take the brave next step into the world in a post-pandemic time, instilling confidence in our passengers and providing access to an easy-to-navigate way to prepare for their upcoming travels.”

 

As a central part to the airline’s commitment to provide safe travels to its passengers during this critical and challenging time, the travel health pass is the one-step solution in ensuring all passengers can travel safely while maintaining that all the necessary precautions are taken in limiting the spread of the virus. Creating a contactless journey with travel documents stored securely on the platform, passengers will enjoy a safer, end-to-end seamless travel experience.

 

“Partnering with Malaysia Airlines to integrate IATA Travel Pass into the airlines’ own app is an important milestone for the IATA Travel Pass. It will demonstrate the apps interoperability, an important feature supporting its global uptake. Built with data privacy, security and convenience in mind, the IATA travel app is a solution that both governments and passengers can trust whether it is stand-alone or incorporated into an airline’s own travel app,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President Airport, Passenger, Cargo, Security.

 

Malaysia Airlines is working closely with the relevant authorities to roll out the health pass and will be sharing more details in the coming weeks. Download the Malaysia Airlines app today, to keep updated on the Health Pass’s latest updates and be one of the first to Fly Malaysia worldwide once again.

-Malaysia Airlines.

IATA unveils key design elements of IATA Travel Pass

 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has unveiled key design elements of the IATA Travel Pass, a mobile app to help travellers easily and securely manage their travel in line with any government requirements for Covid-19 testing or vaccine information.

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “Testing is the immediate solution to safely reopen borders and re-connect people. And eventually, this is likely to transition to vaccination requirements. In either case, a secure system to manage Covid-19 testing or vaccination information is critical.

“The IATA Travel Pass is a solution that both travelers and governments can trust. And it is being built with data security, convenience and verification as top priorities.”

Scheduled for release in 1Q2021 for Android and iPhone, the IATA Travel Pass will boast three critical design elements:

1. Putting travellers in control of their personal information for top level data security and data privacy.

The IATA Travel Pass stores encrypted data including verified test or vaccination results on the mobile device of the traveller, who controls dissemination of information to airlines and authorities. No central database or data repository is storing the information, thereby, ensuring the highest standards for data privacy.

2. Global standards recognised by governments to ensure verified identity and test/vaccine information.

a. Verified identity: A government issued ePassport is used to verify the identity of the user. It also serves to create a digital representation of the user’s passport to allow the information to be sent electronically in a secured way that is linked to their verified identity.

b. Verified test results or vaccine information: Currently, the main vaccination requirement for entry into some countries is for yellow fever. Under the International Health Regulations, this is managed by the “yellow card” or International Certificate of Vaccination and Prophylaxis. The World Health Organization is developing digital standards that will make these vastly more secure and will dramatically reduce fraud. When ready, the IATA Travel Pass will be able to accommodate such new global standards.

Until a Covid-19 vaccine is widely available to the general public, the priority is on Covid-19 testing. Laboratories have well-established safety standards for managing and verifying test results to individuals. IATA is partnering with selected and established laboratories to securely link their test results with the verified identity of the IATA Travel Pass holder.

3. Convenience and biosafety will be enhanced with integration into contactless travel processes. The ICAO CART recommendations for biosafety include the use of contactless travel processes to reduce the risk of virus transmission when documents need to be exchanged in the travel process.

The industry has been developing contactless travel processes as part of a One ID transformation programme for several years. The IATA Travel Pass digital identity management module uses the principles of One ID (which are, in turn, based on ICAO standards). For the passenger, this means that the IATA Travel Pass will also unlock the potential for convenient contactless travel processes from check-in to boarding.

IATA is developing the IATA Travel Pass in four independent modules that can interact with each other. These modules will cover registries for regulatory entry requirements and labs/test centres, verified certificate issuance, digital identity and the possibility for passengers to share their tests results along their journey via their mobile device. Open standards enable the modules to be used as one solution or to complement capabilities being developed by other solutions providers.

-TTG Asia.

IATA Travel Pass Key in final development phase

 

IATA Travel Pass will manage and verify the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) Travel Pass, a digital health passport that will support the safe reopening of borders, is now in the final phase of development and will see its first cross-border pilot later this year as well as a launch slated for 1Q2021.

As governments begin to rely on testing as a replacement of quarantine measures to limit the risks of Covid-19 importation when reopening their borders to travellers, the IATA Travel Pass will support the procedure by managing and verifying the secure flow of necessary testing or vaccine information among governments, airlines, laboratories and travellers.

The IATA Travel Pass incorporates four open sourced and interoperable modules which can be combined for an end-to-end solution. The first module covers a global registry of health requirements, which enables passengers to find accurate information on travel, testing and eventually vaccine requirements for their journey.

The second covers a global registry of testing / vaccination centre, enabling passengers to find testing centres and labs at their departure location which meet the standards for testing and vaccination requirements of their destination.

The third module takes in the Lab App, which enables authorised labs and test centres to securely share test and vaccination certificates with passengers.

Lastly, the Contactless Travel App enables passengers to create a digital passport; receive test and vaccination certificates and verify that they are sufficient for their itinerary; and share testing or vaccination certificates with airlines and authorities to facilitate travel. This app can also be used by travellers to manage travel documentation digitally and seamlessly throughout their journey, improving travel experience.

IATA Travel Pass is based on industry standards and IATA’s proven experience in managing information flows around complex travel requirements. IATA’s Timatic, which is used by most airlines to manage compliance with passport and visa regulations, is the base for the global registry and verification of health requirements.

IATA’s One ID initiative, which was endorsed by a resolution at its 75th Annual General Meeting in 2019 to securely facilitate travel processes with a single identity token, is the base for the IATA Contactless Travel App.

IATA and International Airlines Group (IAG) have been working together in the development of this solution and will undertake a trial to demonstrate that this platform combined with Covid-19 testing can reopen international travel and replace quarantine.

“Today borders are double locked. Testing is the first key to enable international travel without quarantine measures. The second key is the global information infrastructure needed to securely manage, share and verify test data matched with traveler identities in compliance with border control requirements. That’s the job of IATA Travel Pass. We are bringing this to market in the coming months to also meet the needs of the various travel bubbles and public health corridors that are starting operation,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO.

Nick Careen, IATA senior vice president, airport, passenger, cargo and security, commented: “Our main priority is to get people travelling again safely. In the immediate term that means giving governments confidence that systematic Covid-19 testing can work as a replacement for quarantine requirements. And that will eventually develop into a vaccine programme. The IATA Travel Pass is a solution for both.”

Careen explained that the IATA Travel Pass’s interoperability will allow it to be used in combination with other providers or as a standalone end-to-end solution.

Throughout the travel and tourism crisis, IATA has advocated the use of rapid, accurate, affordable, easy-to-operate, scalable and systematic Covid-19 testing for all passengers before departure as an alternative to restrictive quarantine measures in order to re-establish global air connectivity.

Earlier in June, Juniac had expressed: “Imposing quarantine measures on arriving travelers keeps countries in isolation and the travel and tourism sector in lockdown.”

-TTG Asia.

UNWTO, IATA form alliance to get airlines flying again

 

Ahead of the G20 summit of the world’s largest economies, which includes a dedicated tourism segment, the UNWTO has signed an MoU with the IATA, to restore consumer confidence in air travel, while placing sustainability at the centre of recovery and future growth.

As well as focusing on building and maintaining confidence in international travel, the new agreement will also see UNWTO and IATA work closely together to foster innovation and promote greater public-private collaboration. As tourism restarts, this MoU will help ensure recovery is sustainable and inclusive.

IATA director general Alexandre de Juniac said: “The safe opening of international borders to tourism is essential. Tourists want to feel safe, and they want to be confident that their travel plans won’t be affected by last-minute changes to rules and regulations. For this to happen, even greater collaboration between the public and private sectors is needed.”

IATA has been an affiliate member of UNWTO since 1978, providing a strong voice for the international air transport sector. IATA is also an active member of the board of the UNWTO’s affiliate members and contributed to the UNWTO Global Guidelines to Restart Tourism, released in May to help guide governments and the private sector in their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The guidelines included a distinct set of recommendations for the air transport sector, with a focus on the introduction of enhanced hygiene protocols to guarantee the safety of both passengers and airline workers. It also emphasised the need for strong partnership and coordination at every level of the airline sector.

-TTG Asia.

ACI, IATA outline roadmap to restart aviation

Collaboration between governments necessary to drive recovery of aviation sector: ACI, IATA

ACI and IATA are exhorting governments to ensure any new measures rolled out for airports and airlines post-pandemic are scientifically backed and globally consistent, in order to drive a balanced and effective restart for the aviation industry.

The trade associations have jointly issued a paper laying out a pathway for restarting the aviation industry, titled Safely Restarting Aviation – ACI and IATA Joint Approach. Airlines and airports have cooperated to build a roadmap for resuming operations which reassures the travelling public that health and safety remain the overall priorities.

The joint approach proposes a layered approach of measures across the entire passenger journey to minimise the risk of virus transmission at airports and onboard aircraft. ACI and IATA said such measures should be globally consistent and subject to continued review, improvement, and removal when no longer required, to ensure an even recovery.

ACI and IATA are both central members the COVID-19 Aviation Recovery Task Force (CART) being led by ICAO. CART enables the collaboration – among governments and between governments and industry – that is vital to ensure a unified response to restoring air connectivity and passenger confidence in air travel.

“Airports and airlines have come together with ICAO and the wider aviation industry to address the biggest challenge ever faced by commercial aviation in restarting a global industry while continuing to halt the spread of Covid-19,” ACI World director general Angela Gittens said.

“There is currently no single measure that could mitigate all the risks of restarting air travel but we believe a globally-consistent, outcome-based approach represents the most effective way of balancing risk mitigation with the need to unlock economies and to enable travel.”

IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said: “Safety is always our top priority and that includes public health. Restoring air connectivity is vital to restarting the global economy and reconnecting people. Our layered approach of measures recommended by airports and airlines safeguard public health while offering a practical approach for a gradual restart of operations.

“It is important to remember that the risk of transmission on board is very low. And we are determined that aviation will not be a significant source of reinfection. We are working continuously with governments to ensure that any measures put in place are done so consistently and with scientific backing. That is key to restoring public confidence so the benefits of safely restarting aviation can be realised.”

-TTG Asia.

Air passenger numbers expected to surge to new high

Air passenger demand on the up, but rising costs a challenge for airline profits

IATA projects air passenger numbers globally would reach a historical high of over four billion this year, and grow a further 5.6 per cent to 4.3 billion in 2018, on the basis of increased air access, cheaper fares and a strong economy.

Next year the average world citizen is forecast to travel once every 21 months, compared to every 43 months in 2000 and every 50 months in 1996.

Airlines have responded to strong demand in 2017 by adding 1,351 new city-pair connections, taking delivery of 1,683 new jets and turboprop aircraft, increasing utilisation of the existing fleet, and raising load factors to record levels, altogether boosting ASKs (Available Seat Kilometres) worldwide by 6.3 per cent.

According to the published schedules for 2018 airlines are planning a further significant boost to capacity of around 5.7 per cent, a pace which is likely to come in below the growth of traffic. Load factors are forecast to rise to a new record of 81.4 per cent as a result.

The biggest profitability challenge to date, IATA said, has come from accelerating costs. Oil prices are taken from market forecasts for 2018 of around US$60 a barrel for Brent crude oil. As crack spreads have been widening, IATA forecasts a gallon of jet fuel will cost US$1.76 in 2018, a 12.5 per cent increase over this year’s expected average.

The impact will vary depending on hedging, with US and Chinese airlines having low average hedges and facing immediate pressures, while in regions like Europe high hedging ratios are delaying the cost impact. This has already led to some convergence of financial performance between regions.

Meanwhile, labour costs are now a larger proportion of a typical airline’s operating costs than fuel and these have been accelerating in 2017, IATA pointed out. Overall unit costs for the industry are hence forecast to accelerate from 1.7 per cent growth this year to 4.3 per cent in 2018.

IATA estimates operating profit margins will slip from 8.3 per cent in 2017 to 8.1 per cent in 2018, as a result of unit costs outpacing unit revenues. However, this margin compression is less intense than it was in 2017

Unit revenues will be helped by the increase in load factors, raised by above-trend growth in travel and cargo together with the lesser pace of capacity expansion shown in the announced schedules for the summer season next year. 

The other component of unit revenues is yield and this has been rising in both passenger and cargo markets over the past year, in response both to rising costs and increasing demand.

IATA anticipates these conditions will persist in 2018, leading to a further three per cent increase in passenger yields and an overall rise in unit revenues of 3.5 per cent.

-TTG Asia.

Malindo Air Obtains IATA Airline Membership

KUALA LUMPUR, April 21 (Bernama) -- Malindo Air, recent winner of CAPA’s 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year, celebrates another new milestone as the airline received its International Air Transport Association (IATA) certificate as IATA member.

Prior to attaining this membership, Malindo Air had been certified by the IATA Operational Safety Audit, an internationally recognized and accepted evaluation system designed to assess the operational management and control system of an airline.

Chandran Rama Muthy, Malindo Air’s CEO said, “As a premium service airline, we will be able to create better values and achieve more by being an IATA member. We have continued to set ourselves at par with the international aviation standard, and we hope to raise the bar collectively with our partners in the industry.”

With Malindo Air’s addition, IATA now has 274 members from 117 countries across the globe.

For updates on Malindo Air’s latest activities and promotions, please connect with us via Twitter (twitter.com/Malindo_Air), Facebook (facebook.com/MalindoAirMalaysia) or Instagram (instagram.com/malindoair).

About Malindo Air

Malindo Air is a Malaysian airline with main hubs at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and the convenient KL downtown city airport Subang Skypark in Selangor, Malaysia. The airline took to the skies in March 2013 with domestic flights and has since grown to operate routes to all major airports in Malaysia and across the continents of Asia and Australia. The fleet itself has grown exponentially to 16 ATR72-600 and 29 Boeing 737NG as of 31 March 2017

Today, the airline operates over 800 flights weekly across a continuously growing network of about 43 routes in the region. More recently, the airline won CAPA’s 2016 Asia Pacific Regional Airline of the Year, TOP Recognition - Malaysia SME® Preferred Airline Partner, Airline of the Year (Passenger) at the KLIA Awards 2014 and Top Performing Airline 2015 by Travelport.
-bernama.

Malaysia Airlines Earns IATA Fast Travel Green

image: Malaysia Airlines facebook

Sepang, 23 February 2017:  Malaysia Airlines has become the first Malaysian carrier to receive the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Fast Travel Green certificate in recognition of the airline’s efforts in making passengers’ travel more flexible and convenient via its self-service facilities.

IATA’s Fast Travel Programme covers six areas of passenger travel which includes check-in, bags ready-to-go, document check, flight re-booking, self-boarding, and bag recovery. Airlines will then be ranked on the usage of these services by IATA.

By 2020, IATA aims for 80% of global passengers to be offered a complete self-service suite throughout their journey, based on IATA’s industry standards.

Under this programme, Malaysia Airlines has earned the Green ranking by meeting five of the requirements which are check-in, bags ready-to-go, flight re-booking, self-boarding and bag recovery.

The certificate was presented by Sunil Chopra, IATA’s Area Manager for Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives, to Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bellew at the airline’s Head Office in Sepang.

Speaking at the event, Peter Bellew said, “We are delighted to be the first Malaysian carrier to receive IATA’s Fast Travel Green certificate. This achievement marks a great milestone as we move towards improving our overall customer experience and the efficiency of the airline’s operations.”

The services are in line with Malaysia Airlines’ strategy to leverage on technology in order to simplify and reduce the time for check in, giving customers more control over their travel experience. The airlines is already working towards Gold status which will require the implementation of the self-service travel document verification to passengers.

-Malaysia Airlines.

Airline profitability faces stronger headwinds in 2017: IATA

Owing to higher fuel costs and a slowing global economy, IATA is forecasting the global airline industry to post a net profit of US$29.8 billion in 2017, lower than the cyclical peak of US$35.6 million expected for 2016.

This will translate to a 4.1 per cent net margin based on an expected total revenue of US$736 billion, breaking a three-year run in which the world’s airlines have posted record profits year-over-year.

Meanwhile, IATA has also trimmed its 2016 profitability outlook to US$35.6 billion from US$39.4 billion projected in June, due to slower global GDP growth and rising costs. This will still give the industry its highest absolute profit generated and highest net profit margin (5.1 per cent).

Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “For most other businesses, this would be considered a normal level of return to investors. But three years of sustainable profits is a first for the airline industry. And after many years of hard work in restructuring and re-engineering the business the industry is also more resilient.

IATA projects that North America will chalk up the strongest performance, with net post-tax profits to reach US$20.3 billion in 2016 and US$18.1 billion next year.

Net profit in Asia-Pacific is expected to be the second highest at US$6.3 billion in 2017 (down from US$7.3 billion projected in 2016) for a net margin of 2.9 per cent.

This is followed by Europe (US$5.6 billion; down from US$7.5 billion); the Middle East (US$300 million; down from US$900 million) and Latin America (US$200 million; down from US$300 million). The worst financial performance is expected from African carriers, with a net loss of US$800 million, broadly unchanged from 2016.

The demand stimulus from lower oil prices will taper off in 2017, slowing traffic growth to 5.1 per cent (from 5.9% in 2016). And although capacity expansion is expected to slow to 5.6 per cent (from 6.2 per cent in 2016), capacity growth will still outpace the increase in demand, thus lowering the global passenger load factor to 79.8 per cent (from 80.2 per cent in 2016).

Still, the negative impact of a lower load factor is expected to be offset by a higher world GDP by 2.5 per cent in 2017 (up from 2.2 per cent in 2016). Along with structural changes in the industry, this is expected to help stabilise yields, which have fallen each year since 2012 in dollar terms.

-TTG Asia.

APAC leads air passenger growth in 2015: IATA

Asia-Pacific continues to dominate global air passenger traffic growth, according to 2015 industry performance statistics released by IATA in its 60^th Edition of the World Air Transport Statistics.

Airlines in the Asia-Pacific region once again carried the largest number of passengers at 1.2 billion last year, rising 10 per cent from 2014, to account for a 34 per cent market share.

Overall, airlines carried 3.6 billion passengers on scheduled services, an increase of 7.2 per cent over 2014 to represent an additional 240 million air trips.

India saw the fastest passenger growth of 18.8 per cent in 2015 with an annual growth of 18.8 per cent in a market of 80 million domestic passengers, surpassing Russia's 11.9 per cent growth (47 million domestic passengers), China's 9.7 per cent growth (394 million domestic passengers) and the US' 5.4 per cent growth (708 million domestic passengers).

The top five international/regional passenger airport-pairs all reside within Asia-Pacific: Hong Kong-Taipei (5.1 million, up 2.1 per cent from 2014), Jakarta-Singapore (3.4 million, down 2.6 per cent), Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Hong Kong (three million, up 29.2 per cent), Kuala Lumpur–Singapore (2.7 million, up 13 per cent) and Hong Kong-Singapore (2.7 million, down 3.2 per cent).

As well, the top five domestic passenger airport-pairs were also all in the Asia-Pacific region, led by Jeju-Seoul Gimpo (11.1 million, up 7.1 per cent over 2014), followed by Sapporo-Tokyo Haneda (7.8 million, up 1.3 per cent), Fukuoka-Tokyo Haneda (7.6 million, down 7.4 per cent), Melbourne Tullamarine-Sydney (7.2 million, down 2.2 per cent) and Beijing Capital-Shanghai Hongqiao (6.1 million, up 6.1 per cent) respectively.

-TTG Asia.

Global Air Travel Demand Picks Up In August

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Global air travel passenger traffic for August showed a pick-up in demand, with total revenue passenger kilometres 5.9 per cent higher over the same period last year, said the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

IATA said load factor was high at 83.9 per cent, which was 0.3 percentage point rise over August 2013.

Its director-general/chief executive officer, Tony Tyler, said August was a good month right across the industry with all regions reported an expansion in demand for air travel. "We should, however, keep an eye on potential downside risks.

"European travel, for example, continues to show robust growth with its 6.1 per cent year-to-date expansion in demand, reflecting a solid step up from the 3.8 per cent growth recorded in 2013. "However, it remains a question how long the robust trend in passenger travel can continue in light of the continent's increasingly worrying economic outlook," Tyler said.

IATA said Asia-Pacific airlines saw their traffic increased 5.8 per cent in August over the same month last year while capacity rose seven per cent and load factor declined 0.9 percentage point to 81 per cent.

The association said the Chinese economy had been stabilising, supported by the government's fiscal stimulus and regional trade activity, which encouraged business travel and rebounded fully.

On the Ebola crisis, Tyler said, the airline industry was taking its guidance from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and public health authorities to keep flying safe for passengers and crew.

"Travellers should be reassured. WHO has clearly said that the risk of Ebola transmission on board an aircraft is low. Moreover, WHO is not advising any restrictions on travel," he said.
-bernama.

International air travel on the ascent in 2013

Demand for air travel continues to be on an upward trajectory this year, with Asia-Pacific airlines capturing over half of the growth in demand for international travel between October and January.

According to statistics released by IATA, overall demand showed a 2.7 per cent year-on-year increase from January last year and 2.2 per cent growth in capacity, while load averaged 77.1 per cent.

However, the association’s press release stated that the figures were distorted by the Lunar New Year season falling in February this year rather than January last year, and estimates actual growth to be higher at 3.5 per cent.

International flights outperformed the overall average with a 3.7 per cent increase in demand, 2.7 per cent growth in capacity and 77.6 per cent in load factors.

For Asia-Pacific airlines, load factors on international flights stood at 77.8 per cent, and demand rose three per cent after adjustment for seasonal factors. The Middle East and Latin America posted the strongest growth in demand, at 14.3 and 12.2 per cent respectively, and Africa reached 9.4 per cent. North America and Europe trailed with 1.5 per cent and 2.1 per cent expansion in demand respectively.

On the domestic front, capacity increased 1.4 per cent, demand hiked five per cent and load factor exceeded 80 per cent after taking seasonal effects into account. China, the second largest market for domestic air travel, saw demand rise five per cent after seasonal adjustment and load factor at 77.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, demand fell three per cent in Japan, matched by a 2.9 per cent decline in capacity. Load factor was a weak 56.4 per cent, as the domestic market was still 12 per cent below pre-earthquake levels. Demand was also down 4.9 per cent in India, where capacity tumbled 5.3 per cent and load factor posted 75.9 per cent.

-TTG Asia.

Global air travel demand loses steam: IATA

Global air traffic results for May indicate a general downward trend in demand – in line with deteriorating global economic conditions, according to the latest report from IATA.

While air passenger demand was 4.5 per cent ahead of levels in May 2011, growth was flat compared to April. Capacity increased by 4.0 per cent and load factors stood at 77.6 per cent.

International passenger demand was up 5.6 per cent compared to May 2011, well below the 7.1 per cent growth recorded in April. All regions, except the Middle East, saw growth in passenger demand slow in May compared to April. A 4.1 per cent capacity expansion, however, helped improve load factors from 75.9 per cent in May 2011 to 77.0 per cent for the current month.

Asia-Pacific carriers registered a 5.5 per cent expansion in demand over the previous year period. This was ahead of capacity expansion of 3.1 per cent, pushing load factors to 75.4 per cent. In April, the region’s carriers recorded 8.6 per cent growth – heavily skewed due to the impact of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Compared to April, demand actually declined 0.8 per cent, while load factors slipped 0.4 percentage points.

Domestic passenger markets grew by 2.7 per cent, slightly less than half the rate of international markets. This was significantly below the 4.1 per cent year-on-year growth recorded in April. Load factors of 78.8 per cent were 0.8 percentage points below the 79.6 per cent reported for May 2011.

Japan experienced the strongest domestic traffic growth, up 14.8 per cent year-on-year. Load factors of 58.4 per cent were the lowest among major domestic markets.

China’s domestic demand slowed to growth rates last seen in early 2011. Traffic rose 4.4 per cent against an 8.3 per cent increase in capacity, pushing load factors down to 78.6 per cent. Compared to April, domestic demand was virtually unchanged.

Indian domestic traffic rose just 0.1 per cent year-over-year, but fell 2.7 per cent compared to April. Load factors stood at 76.8 per cent.

-TTG Asia.