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 airline costs are reducing the stimulus from lower airfares.”

In particular, jet 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.