Global air passenger demand growth slows in June - IATA

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Global demand for air travel rose 5.2 percent in June, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday, representing a slowdown from growth rates seen earlier in the year as attacks weigh on bookings.

Capacity measured in available seat kilometres rose faster than demand at 5.6 percent, meaning that load factor - a measure of how full planes are - dropped 0.3 percentage points to 80.7 percent, IATA said in its monthly traffic update.

"The fragile and uncertain economic backdrop, political shocks and a wave of terrorist attacks are all contributing to a softer demand environment," IATA Director General Tony Tyler said in a statement.

Major European airlines such as Lufthansa, Air France-KLM (Shanghai: 600686.SS - news) and British Airways owner IAG have reported weaker demand for long-haul routes to Europe as a result of attacks in France, Belgium and the attempted coup in Turkey. (Reporting by Wout Vergauwen; Editing by Victoria Bryan)