GENEVA — The world’s major airlines saw global passenger traffic results (revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) for June increase 5.7% in demand compared to June 2014, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This was a slowdown compared to the 6.9% year-over-year growth recorded in May, in part owing to the timing of Ramadan, which depressed travel demand in the Middle East. June capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) climbed 6.0%, and load factor dipped 0.2 percentage points to 81.1%.

“June was another healthy month for demand for air connectivity, although slower trade activity in emerging Asia-Pacific markets and the impact of the Greek debt crisis on European travel remain worrisome,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s Director General and CEO.

June international passenger demand rose 5.3% compared to June 2014. Airlines in all regions except Africa recorded growth although there was wide variation between regions. Capacity climbed 6.0% pushing down load factor 0.5 percentage points to 80.4%.

North American airlines experienced a 2.7% increase in traffic, which was above the 2% increase recorded in May. Capacity rose 2.8% and load factor slipped 0.1 percentage points to 84.9%, which still was the highest among the regions. While it is expected that the U.S. had better economic performance in the second quarter than the first quarter, the strengthening dollar is likely to continue to put pressure on international leisure travel to the U.S.