Dubai: Middle Eastern carriers have once again dominated international passenger traffic figures in February, according to the latest figures provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The region posted the strongest February growth, with a 13.4 per cent jump in passenger numbers, compared to the same period last year.
“Airlines in the Middle East continue to benefit from the strength of regional economies and solid growth in business-related premium travel,” IATA stated. Capacity rose 12.5 per cent and load factor rose by half 0.6 percentage points to 78.9 per cent.
“The Gulf nations in particular are enjoying acceleration in non-oil sectors of their economies, further supporting strong demand for air travel,” IATA stated.
Globally, passenger traffic results for February showed a growth of 5.5 per cent compared to February 2013.
Capacity rose globally by 5.5 per cent and load factors slipped 0.2 percentage points to 76.8 per cent with all regions reporting positive year-over-year international traffic growth figures.
“Strong demand is consistent with the pick-up in global economic growth, particularly in advanced economies,” said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and chief executive.
For European carriers international traffic climbed 5.8 per cent, Asia Pacific 4 per cent, North American airlines two per cent and Latin American airlines 4.2 per cent.
Growth in the North American market is a sign of the regions economic improvement while Latin American growth is a reflection of the robust performance of economies like Columbia, Peru and Chile, according to IATA.
“The connectivity provided by aviation both enables and sustains trade and development while economic activity creates demand for aviation,” Tyler said.
He added that, “Governments that treat aviation as if it were a luxury item, or a necessary evil, are depriving their populations of a key engine of growth and job creation.”
