How healthy is the airline industry? Solid according to IATA

IATA releases the state of the airline industry in financial terms. Latest numbers are from November 2016 – and they look good

• The latest financial results from Q3 2016 continue to indicate another solid quarter for industry profitability, although there are ongoing signs that momentum in the profitability cycle has weakened;

• Global airline share prices jumped by 7.5% in November, driven by a 16.4% increase for North America carriers;
• Brent crude oil prices recently reached a 17-month high, following the agreement by OPEC to restrict oil supplies. The oil market is gradually rebalancing, with prices expected to trend upwards modestly in the coming years;
• While passenger yields edged down in September, the intense downward pressure on yields has eased since earlier in 2016, in keeping with the change in the trend of oil prices seen over the period;
• The premium segment continues to be an important buffer for airline financial performance. While premium traffic growth has lagged, premium airfares have held up better than those in economy on many routes so far this year;
• Annual growth in passenger volumes remains broadly in line with its 10-year average. Despite easing in October, the seasonally-adjusted load factor remained above the 80%-mark;

• Air freight volumes have been boosted by a stronger-than-expected peak season in 2016, with traffic up more than 8% year-on-year in October. The freight load factor has rebounded from its early-2016 low.

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