• Global airline share prices increased, and outperformed the global equity index, for the third month in a row in June.
    Airline shares have risen by more than 20% since start-2017, and are currently around 44% higher than a year ago.
  • The recent gains in airline share prices indicate that investors are continuing to look through the impact that squeezed profit margins has had on airline financial performance in Q1 2017, and are focusing instead on signs that the upward pressure on the breakeven load factor is easing.
  • The resilience of US crude oil supply has continued to put downward pressure on oil prices. Brent crude oil prices fell back below US$50/bbl during June, and are currently broadly unchanged from levels seen a year ago.
  • Meanwhile, although passenger yields remain around 4.5% lower in year-on-year terms, the latest monthly data add to signs that the downward trend in yields has bottomed out.
  • Passenger and freight demand have both continued their strong start to 2017. The passenger load factor remains close to an all-time high, while the freight load factor recently recovered to its highest level since July 2014.
  • The pick-up in global trade is helping to support premium passenger demand, particularly to, from and within Asia Pacific. Premium revenues have risen in year-on-year terms on key routes to and from the region so far in 2017.