The International Air Transport Association (IATA)s global passenger traffic results for February 2014 has shown a 13.4 per cent year-on-year increase in growth among Middle Eastern airline carriers
Specifically, Gulf nations are benefiting as the non-oil sectors are accelerating, thereby increasing demand in air travel. Strength of regional economies and premium business travel have improved these figures, added the report.
Overall, February 2014 has shown a demand growth of 5.4 per cent compared to February 2013.
IATA said the airline capacity rose 12.5 per cent and load factor climbed 0.6 percentage points to 78.9 per cent in February 2014. Cumulative traffic growth for January and Febraury 2014 was 6.9 per cent, which compares favourably with the overall growth rate of 5.2 per cent achieved in 2013.
Tony Tyler, CEO and director general of IATA, said, ?People are flying. Strong demand is consistent with the pick-up in global economic growth, particularly in advanced economies.?
Meanwhile, according to data by JP Morgan Chase and Markit, international traffic among European carries climbed 5.8 per cent, Asia Pacific carriers recorded an increase of four per cent and North American airlines reported a two per cent increase. African airlines experienced the slowest demand growth of 0.1 per cent.
