The January report of the Airlines Financial Monitor has been released, sharing a breakdown of aviation finances for the past month.
The rise in worldwide airline share prices slowed as declines in crude oil and jet fuel prices paused, with these crude oil and jet fuel prices stabilising in January after falling more than 50% at the close of 2014.
Airline shares had increased by 40% in 2014, helped partly by falling energy prices in the latter months, however for January, share prices were subdued in all regions except the Asia Pacific, which was up 8%.
Initial Q4 financial results show improvements continuing to be driven by US carriers, with passenger yields in the US showing only small year-end gains, as fares in other regions fall further.
The Asia Pacific region’s financial performance proved to be weak in recent times, hampered by over-capacity and weakness in cargo revenues.
Air travel growth remained strong in December, while air freight demand sustained recent gains, fighting back at developing concerns concerning the health of the global economy.
The easing in business confidence over recent months has adversely impacted international air travel, but domestic markets continue to see strong growth levels.
Growth in available seats accelerated in December, but is still below the pace of growth in demand, which should support aircraft utilisation rates.
Passenger load factors improved in December, but air freight load factors lost ground on significant growth in capacity in Asia Pacific.
Domestic load factors have been starting to recover some of the ground lost in the first half of 2014, following solid expansion in volumes during recent months.
