Global air passenger traffic demand up 8 percent in November - IATA

(Reuters) - Global demand for air travel climbed 8 percent in November, the fastest rate in five months, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday.

IATA said that upward revenue passenger kilometre (RPK) trend has bolstered towards the end of 2017, pointing to a good start to the new year.

"We expect another year of above-trend passenger growth in 2018 as a whole, albeit at a slightly slower pace than seen in 2017", Alexandre de Juniac, IATA Director General, said.

"In sum, we begin the New Year with confidence," he said.

Capacity measured in available seat kilometres rose 6.3 percent, and load factor rose 1.2 percentage points to 80.2 percent, IATA said in its monthly traffic update.

(The story has been refiled to add dropped word in fourth paragraph)

(Reporting by Anna Serafin; Editing by Maria Sheahan)