MONTREAL — IATA has released its Airlines Financial Monitor for March-April 2016, which reports that although global ******* share prices fell a few notches, Q1 financial results indicate “a robust start to 2016.”

According to the report, global ******* share prices dropped by 6.9% during April, ending the month more than 8% below their start-year level. North American airlines saw the biggest month-on-month fall (-12.5%), while European and Asia Pacific airlines saw more modest declines (-3.8% and -3.1% respectively).

The initial financial results from the first quarter of 2016 show a strong, albeit mixed, start of the year for industry profitability. Net post-tax profits from Q1 were 12% higher than in the same period in 2015. The strongest financial results were once again posted by North American airlines, with an operating margin of over 15%.

Other key findings include average global fares in reported U.S. dollar terms (excluding taxes, fees and surcharges) have fallen by around 9% year-on-year so far this year. Airfares are expected to decline further in the near future as prior declines in *** fuel prices feed through. That said, with oil prices up 65% since their January low, the biggest stimulus to demand from lower airfares now appears to be behind us.

Global passenger traffic grew by 7% year-on-year in the first quarter, helped by the fact that 2016 is a leap year. In terms of capacity, there has been a slight acceleration in capacity growth in recent months, with March being the second consecutive month in which annual growth in passenger capacity exceeded that of passenger traffic.