Global air passenger traffic demand in June grew at its lowest rate since March with just a 2.6 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), according to the latest figures from airline association IATA.

IATA pointed to conflict in the Middle East as a key driver in the lower demand - many carriers were forced to cancel or reroute flights in June following?Israeli airstrikes on Iran and the subsequent 12-day conflict between the two nations.

Willie Walsh, the association¡¯s director general, said: "That¡¯s a slower pace than we have seen in previous months and reflects disruptions around military conflict in the Middle East."

Total global capacity in June, as measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 3.4 per cent year-on-year, and global load factor declined 0.6 percentage points for the month to 84.5 per cent. Monthly international demand increased by 3.2 per cent year-on-year globally, while capacity was up by 4.2 per cent.

Regional figures show that airline passenger traffic in Europe rose by 2.2 per cent year-on-year in June, with capacity up by 2.6 per cent for the month. This led to a slight drop in load factor of 0.3 percentage points to 87.8 per cent in June, which was still the highest level of any global region.

"At 84.5 per cent globally, however, load factors are still very strong," added Walsh. "And with a modest 1.8 per cent capacity growth visible in August schedules, load factors over the Northern summer are unlikely to stray far from their recent historic highs.¡±