BERLIN: Falling plane fares are helping to support strong growth in global air passenger traffic, the International Air Transport Association said.

For October, demand in terms of revenue passenger kilometers rose 7.5 percent, following 7.4 percent growth in September, IATA said in its regular monthly traffic figures.

Fares have fallen 5 percent over the first eight months of year, IATA said, estimating that falling prices have contributed around 3 percentage points to growth so far this year.

IATA’s global passenger traffic results for October showed continued strong demand growth for both domestic and international traffic compared to the year-ago period.

Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 7.5 percent, which was in line with the 7.4 percent year-over-year expansion seen in September.

October capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 5.7 percent, and load factor rose 1.4 percentage points to 80.5 percent.

Growth in air travel has been stimulated by lower fares, particularly for leisure travel.

Data for the first 8 months of the year show a 5 percent fall in average fares in currency-adjusted terms.

It is estimated that the fall in fares has supported approximately 3 percentage points of the rise in traffic year-to-date.

“The air travel story is generally a good one. There are some weak spots. For example the Brazilian air transport sector is caught in perfect storm of a deepening recession, high costs and a weak currency,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO.

“In most parts of the world, we see strong demand for travel — exceeding the growth in capacity. Load factors are averaging over 80 percent and consumers are the big winners with fares trending downwards,” said Tyler.

October international passenger demand rose 7.6 percent compared to October 2014, with airlines in all regions recording growth. Total capacity climbed 6.1 percent, pushing up load factor 1.1 percentage points to 79.2 percent.

Middle East carriers posted a 10.3 percent traffic increase in October. Capacity rose 12.7 percent, however, which caused load factor to slide 1.5 percentage points to 72.5 percent. The Middle East was the only region to see a decline in load factor for the month.

Asia-Pacific airlines’ October traffic increased 8.6 percent compared to the year-ago period. Significant declines in trade activity to/from Emerging Asia and slower than expected growth in the Chinese economy do not appear to be impacting on passenger demand. Capacity rose 6.6 percent and load factor gained 1.5 percentage points to 76.7 percent.

European carriers saw demand rise 6.7 percent, supported by economic recovery in the Eurozone. Capacity climbed 4.2 percent and load factor jumped 1.9 percentage points to 83.8 percent, highest among the regions.