GENEVA — The latest results from IATA show that air travel demand was up 6.1% in May 2018 compared to the same month in 2017, which was a slight pickup from 6% year-over-year growth for April 2018.

Capacity climbed 5.9% and load factor rose 0.1 percentage points to 80.1%.

“May was another solid month in terms of demand growth,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO.   “As had been expected, we saw some moderation, as rising ******* costs are reducing the stimulus from lower airfares.”

In particular, *** fuel prices are expected to be up nearly 26% this year compared to 2017, said de Juniac. “Nevertheless, the record load factor for the month signifies that demand for air connectivity is strong.”

North American airlines’ traffic rose 4.9% in May compared to May 2017, a strong rebound from 0.9% annual growth in April, which was a 36-month low. Capacity climbed 3.4% and load factor increased 1.2 percentage points to 82%. De Juniac says that given the comparatively strong U.S. domestic economy, April’s weak demand performance likely was more reflective of unfavourable year-to-year comparisons with April 2017, when the current upsurge in growth began.