Date: 26 May 2005

January-April Passenger Traffic Up 8.7% -Cost Reduction To Dominate World Air Transport Summit

April 2005 over April 2004	RPK Growth	ASK Growth	PLF %	FTK Growth	ATK Growth
Africa	9.2 %	8.8 %	66.7	11.5 %	12.7 %
Asia/Pacific	8.0 %	7.5 %	70.8	5.9 %	7.5 %
Europe	4.3 %	5.1 %	75.1	5.0 %	5.0 %
Middle East	13.2 %	11.0 %	71.1	13.9 %	12.9 %
North America	10.2 %	10.2 %	78.2	0.9 %	5.1 %
Latin America	10.1%	12.8 %	68.8	3.3 %	8.9 %
Industry	7.5 %	7.6 %	73.4	5.3 %	6.8 %

January -April 2005 YTD (year to date)	RPK Growth	ASK Growth	PLF %	FTK Growth	ATK Growth
Africa	11.8 %	7.5 %	70.0	11.6 %	10.1 %
Asia/Pacific	8.2 %	7.4 %	72.1	5.6 %	8.1 %
Europe	6.0 %	5.1 %	73.8	3.8 %	5.8 %
Middle East	13.6 %	12.2 %	72.6	14.0 %	13.1 %
North America	11.5 %	10.0 %	77.6	1.2 %	6.4 %
Latin America	13.7 %	13.1 %	72.7	-1.2 %	6.4 %
Industry	8.7 %	7.6 %	73.6	4.7 %	7.5 %

Notes for editors:

 

1. Month-on-month results for passenger and freight results for March are distorted by the Easter holiday period which moved from April in 2004 to March in 2005.

2. IATA (International Air Transport Association) represents 265 airlines comprising 94% of international scheduled air traffic.

3. The IATA Billing and Settlement Plan operates in 71 countries for 390 airline and non-airline participants covering 150 countries and territories.

4.  Explanation of measurements:
   1. RPK: Revenue Passenger Kilometres measures actual passenger traffic

   2. ASK: Available Seat Kilometres measures available passenger capacity

   3. PLF: Passenger Load Factor is % of ASKs used.  In comparison of 2004 to 2003, PLF indicates point differential between the periods compared.

   4. FTK: Freight Tonne Kilometres measures actual freight traffic

   5. ATK: Available Tonne Kilometres measures available total capacity (combined passenger and cargo)

5.  IATA statistics cover international scheduled air traffic; domestic traffic is not included.

6. All figures are provisional and represent total reporting at time of publication plus estimates for missing data.

7. Due to uncertainties in the adoption of the new ICAO statistical definitions by reporting carriers, care should be taken when making year comparisons.
8. Accredited media are invited to attend the IATA World Air Transport Summit and Annual General Meeting. A detailed media programme is available from Joanna Grimble at grimble@iata.org