Global Air Travel Hits 12-year High

A new report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) predicts a record breaking summer travel season for the northern hemisphere.

This is based in large part on air carriers experiencing a 12-year high in traffic during the first half of this year.

During the first six months of 2017, global demand for air travel was up 7.9 percent, according to the IATA report. In June alone, demand increased 7.8 percent. At the same time, load factors (a measure of how many seats on a plane are occupied) hit a record 80.7 percent during the first half of the year.

The IATA report attributes the spiking demand to improved economies and lower fares.

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"But as costs rise, this stimulus of lower fares is likely to fade. And uncertainties such as Brexit need to be watched carefully," IATA head Alexandre de Juniac said in a statement.

The IATA data comes on the heels of a July report from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in which the agency says it handled a record number of travelers between June 25 and July 1.

The agency screened 17 million individuals at checkpoints nationwide during the indicated time frame, which is the most passengers and crew members screened in the history of the agency, according to the TSA report.

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The three U.S. airports where the largest number of people were screened are Los Angeles International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport.

TSA teams processed 914,341 people at LAX, 761,775 people at JFK and 642,120 individuals at Chicago O’Hare.