Lower oil prices and robust demand have made it economical to keep flying less fuel-efficient aircraft; IATA said and noted that some 79 aircraft were removed from the global fleet in June, compared to 135 in the same month in 2015.

Globally, as many as 161 new aircraft were delivered in June — the highest in a month since December 2014. Net storage activity made another solid positive contribution to the fleet size, driven mainly by fewer aircraft going into storage, IATA said in its latest financial monitor.

Brent crude oil prices fell back sharply during July, ending the month below $43/barrel — the lowest level since early-April. The sell-off follows the rally in oil prices seen during the first half of 2016, and has been driven by a near-term glut in supply and a tick-up in the dollar.

The oil futures curve has shifted down over the past month, with the market now expecting prices to remain below $55/b over the next three years or so.

Oil prices ended July 22% lower year-on-year. However, the annual comparison is becoming less favourable: levels in early-August are currently around 12% lower than August 2015, IATA said.

The global passenger market “grew solidly” in annual terms in the first half of 2016, with growth broadly in line with the average pace seen over the past decade.

That said, the upward trend in seasonally adjusted passenger volumes has moderated since January, in the face of moderate global economic growth and the ongoing and cumulative impacts of recent “high-profile” terrorist attacks.

The premium segment continues to offer an “important buffer” for overall airline financial performance. Premium air fares have held up better than their economy counterparts on many of the main premium routes so far this year, IATA said.

Meanwhile, the latest freight data point to an “improvement from the weak conditions” seen earlier this year. However, the outlook for air freight continues to face significant headwinds, including broader weakness in global trade.

Available seat kilometres grew by 5.6% year-on-year in June. However, airlines have slowed the upward trend in capacity growth somewhat in recent months in line with slowing demand, IATA said.

Industry-wide available freight capacity growth has continued to outstrip that of demand; ongoing impetus to freight belly capacity from additions to the passenger fleet means that annual growth in industry-wide freight capacity has now exceeded annual growth in volumes for 16 consecutive months.

Despite their relatively small share of the freight market, African carriers are at the forefront of the freight capacity growth story, with available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) up more than 22% year-on-year in H1, 2016.