GENEVA — Airline capacity growth exceeded demand in February 2016, the first month that’s happened since the middle of 2015. “It is unclear whether this signals the start of a generalized downward trend in load factor, but it bears watching,” said IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler.

Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 8.6%, compared to the same month last year. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 9.6%, and load factor declined 0.7 percentage points to 77.8%.

February international passenger demand rose 9.1% compared to February 2015, which was an increase over the 7.3% yearly increase recorded in January. Airlines in all regions recorded growth. Total capacity climbed 9.9%, causing load factor to slip 0.6% percentage points to 76.6%.

North American airlines’ traffic climbed 3.6%, which was the slowest among the world regions and was exceeded by a capacity expansion of 4.8%. In turn, this caused load factor to fall 0.9 percentage points to 75.9%.

GENEVA — Airline capacity growth exceeded demand in February 2016, the first month that’s happened since the middle of 2015. “It is unclear whether this signals the start of a generalized downward trend in load factor, but it bears watching,” said IATA Director General and CEO Tony Tyler.

Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 8.6%, compared to the same month last year. Monthly capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 9.6%, and load factor declined 0.7 percentage points to 77.8%.

February international passenger demand rose 9.1% compared to February 2015, which was an increase over the 7.3% yearly increase recorded in January. Airlines in all regions recorded growth. Total capacity climbed 9.9%, causing load factor to slip 0.6% percentage points to 76.6%.

North American airlines’ traffic climbed 3.6%, which was the slowest among the world regions and was exceeded by a capacity expansion of 4.8%. In turn, this caused load factor to fall 0.9 percentage points to 75.9%.