Fig.1.1. Annual traffic growth and profit margin

RPKs between regions of the world grew at an accelerated rate in 2014, expanding 6.1%, compared with 5.4% in 2013. This growth trend reflected the increase in demand that resulted from improvements in the global economy. There were several exceptions to the trend in RPK growth; notably, RPKs between Central and South America and within Asia. In South America, this was partly a result of regional carriers significantly reducing capacity to Venezuela because of the challenges in repatriating their funds held by that country’s government. The Asian market witnessed a slowdown primarily because of notable declines in international travel to Thailand and Malaysia. The Thai economy suffered a significant drop in tourism and exports following a military coup in that country. And Malaysia experienced a decline in tourism following the MH 370 and MH 17 tragedies. By contrast, RPKs between the Middle East and North America accelerated strongly. This reflected improving economic conditions in the United States, including gains in employment and business confidence. More, it reflected expanded capacity by Middle Eastern carriers.