The International Air Transport Association has announced global passenger traffic results for April showing that demand (revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) rose by 4.3 per cent compared to April last year.

April capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) increased by 3.6 per cent, and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage point to 82.8 per cent, which was a record for the month of April, surpassing last year’s record of 82.2 per cent.

Regionally, Africa, Europe and Latin America posted record load factors.

Comparisons between the two months are distorted owing to the timing of the Easter holiday, which occurred on April 1st in 2018 but fell much later in the month in 2019.

“We experienced solid but not exceptional rising demand for air connectivity in April. This partly is owing to the timing of Easter, but also reflects the slowing global economy.

“Driven by tariffs and trade disputes, global trade is falling, and as a result, we are not seeing traffic growing at the same levels as a year ago.

“However, airlines are doing a very good job of managing aircraft utilisation, leading to record load factors.” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA chief executive.

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The figures were announced during the opening stages of the IATA annual general meeting in South Korea.