Airline industry warns tariffs and trade disputes are threatening travel growth

Ahead of its annual general meeting in Seoul Saturday, IATA reported that passenger demand rose in April, but it warned of ominous global economic factors that it says may be behind slowing year-over-year growth. “We experienced solid but not exceptional rising demand for air connectivity in April. This is partly is owing to the timing of Easter, but also reflects the slowing global economy,” said CE and DG Alexandre de Juniac. “Driven by tariffs and trade disputes, global trade is falling, and as a result, we are not seeing traffic growing at the same levels as a year ago. However, airlines are doing a very good job of managing aircraft utilization, leading to record load factors.” <br/>