KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 3): Global passenger demand for July with total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) up 6.2% year-on-year with all regions reporting growth, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

In a statement Aug 30 on its website, IATA said while this was down from 8.1% year-over-year growth in June, it nevertheless marked a solid start to the peak passenger demand season.

IATA said monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.5% and load factor rose 0.6 percentage point to a record high for July of 85.2%.

IATA director general and CEO Alexandre de Juniac said the industry posted another month of solid traffic growth.

“And the record load factor shows that airlines are becoming even more efficient in terms of deploying capacity to meet demand.

“However, rising costs -- particularly fuel -- will likely limit the stimulus we would expect from lower airfares.

“Therefore, we do expect to see a continued slowing of growth compared to 2017,” he said.