ASIA Travel Tips.com

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In a monthly fall of a size not seen since the immediate aftermath of the Gulf war, more than 10 years ago, passenger traffic on the international scheduled services of IATA airlines declined 17 percent in September, compared to September 2000, and as a result showed no growth in the first nine months of the year. Carriers were unable to adjust their seat supply quickly enough; the passenger load factor fell from 78 percent in August to 69 percent in September.

During the first nine months of 2001, total traffic (passengers plus freight) fell by nearly 3 percent, against a total capacity increase of 2 percent (these figures do not appear on the summary table, below).

Carriers most severely affected were those registered in North America; their passenger and freight traffic fell more than 30 percent in September. European and Far Eastern carriers experienced a 12 percent fall in passenger traffic overall, but carriers with a high US component in their services fared worse.

IATA MEMBERS' AVERAGE Sep 2001 Jan-Sep 2001

International Scheduled Services)



Passenger Traffic, % change over '00 - 17 -

Revenue-Passenger-kilometres)

Passenger Seat Supply, % change over '00 - 7 + 2

(Available-Seat-kilometres)

Passenger Load Factor, (% points) 69 73

Freight Traffic, % change over '00 - 9 - 7

Revenue Tonne-kilometres)

Source: Extracted from IATA Monthly International Statistics.