The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for September showing demand growth of 5.3% (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) over September 2013. This continues the positive growth trend for passenger demand even though the performance was slightly below the August year-over-year rise of 6.3%. September capacity rose 5.1% and load factor rose 0.2 percentage points to 80.3%.

''Overall, demand for passenger travel is growing in line with expectations. We saw, however, some shifting of the sources of that growth in September, largely driven by economic factors. The strengthening of the US and Asian economies was offset by weakness in Europe and Latin America,'' said Tony Tyler, IATA's director General and CEO.

''The three big stories in September were Europe, Russia and India,'' said Tyler.

Indian domestic travel spiked with a 26.3% growth in September (several times the 7.6% growth recorded in August) as a result of price stimulation.

Indian domestic traffic spiked 26.3% in September compared to a year ago. Whereas previous improvements in growth rates potentially were attributable to revived confidence over the new business-supportive government, the strong increase in September was owing to market stimulation measures introduced by carriers.

''It's an interesting time for the global air transport industry, highlighting the complex vunerabilities of the business. The fall in the price of oil is a good example. It is good news for an industry that spends a third of its operating budget on fuel. The full impact of the price drop will only be realized over time because of a time lag built into jet fuel pricing. And it could even be an indicator of difficulties ahead if the fall is driven by declining demand for oil rather than rising supply capacity,'' said Tyler.

''There are a lot of risks out there-growing weakness in key economies such as Europe and Brazil, the potential threat of Ebola to public confidence in flying, and the impact of political instability in various parts of the world. The positive economic developments in Asia and the US continue to underpin profitability. But it is a delicate balancing act,'' said Tyler.