Load factors for the month stood at 81.4 percent, more than one percent higher than the global average, a statement from the Geneva-based association said.
IATA said regional carriers posted the strongest freight performance in July with gains of 8.4 percent over the same month in 2010.
It said air passenger traffic rose by 5.9 percent in July on a 12-month basis, but the cloudy economic outlook and high fuel prices could lead to weak growth in 2011.
“This (July) increase was likely based on the much more optimistic economic outlook that marked the beginning of the year,” IATA Director-General Tony Tyler said.
“With business and consumer confidence now tanking, sluggishness in international trade, and high fuel prices, the expectation is for a weaker end to the year. We are already seeing this in the shrinking air freight markets, which were 0.4 percent down on the previous year,” Tyler said in the statement.
Governments are partly to blame, he said.
“Some of our challenges have a high percentage of government-made content. The recent downsizing of Air Berlin is a clear reminder of the high cost of the German departure tax on the economy, jobs and communities.
“Governments should not compromise aviation’s role as an economic catalyst for the short-term revenue gain of gratuitous taxation — particularly when economies remain weak,” said Tyler.
Freight traffic, “which reflect economic sentiment more quickly than passenger markets” was down 0.4 percent in July compared to a year ago, IATA said.
In terms of international passenger traffic, Latin American carriers achieved the strongest July growth, at 10.3 percent year-on-year, while European carriers increased traffic by 9.3 percent because of increased inward demand on currency factors, it said.
Japan continued to be strongly affected by the March earthquake and tsunami, with July domestic passenger traffic down 16.7 percent year-on-year, but lower than the 20.3 percent decline in June, IATA added.
“The earthquake and tsunami in Japan, coupled with the general economic gloom are ... the main driving factors of continued weakness,” IATA said.
The rise in passenger numbers in July meant airlines filled 83.1 percent of available seats, even though capacity — “available seat kilometers” — rose by 5.4 percent.
Domestic passenger numbers were much weaker than international figures, largely because of the slump in Japan, where passenger traffic fell 16.7 percent from July 2010.
India recorded the highest domestic passenger growth this July at over 20 percent, followed by Brazil at about 18 percent, though the growth was slower for international air traffic.
“Brazil and India recorded the highest growth rates of 17.8 percent and 20.6 percent respectively. Both were stronger than June’s performance,” the association announced.
But the biggest markets, the US and China, were sluggish. US growth was 2.1 percent, while Chinese traffic growth “slowed abruptly” to 5.1 percent, IATA said.
In freight markets, the overall fall of 0.4 percent since July 2010 reflected a 3.9 percent decline in the Asia-Pacific region and a 0.5 percent slip in Europe, which together outweighed single digit growth elsewhere in the world.
“Freight load factors have declined significantly (1.8 percentage points) to the pre-recession level of 45.0 percent. Asia-Pacific carriers, the largest in the market, have seen load factors slip to 58.1 percent (from 60.2 percent in July 2010),” IATA said.
