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RECORD 12.7pc JUMP IN DEMAND

Mideast carriers lead air travel demand growth

DUBLIN, May 30, 2016

Middle East carriers reported a record 12.7 per cent rise in global air travel demand in April, which was the largest increase among all the regions.

According to a report released by The International Air Transport Association (Iata), airlines in all the regions recorded growth, with the Middle East taking the lead. Following closely behind was African airlines with traffic surging 9.9 per cent and Asia-Pacific airlines reporting a 6.4 per cent increase in traffic compared to April 2015.

Capacity, however, outstripped this rise by jumping 14.8 per cent, causing load factor to fall 1.4 percentage points to 75.6 per cent.

Overall, international passenger demand rose 4.8 per cent compared to April 2015 -  the slowest pace in two years.

Total capacity on international passenger markets climbed 5.6 per cent, causing load factor to slip 0.6 percentage points to 77.8 per cent.

Demand for domestic travel also climbed 4.1 per cent in April compared to April 2015, while capacity increased 3.8 per cent, causing load factor to rise 0.3 percentage points to 81.4 per cent.

Globally, passenger demand for April rose 4.6 per cent, which is the slowest pace since January, with capacity increasing by 4.9 per cent, and load factor slipping 0.3 percentage points to 79.1 per cent.

The disruptive impact of the Brussels Airport attack weighed on the April figures. Iata estimates that, absent the impact of the attacks, demand growth would have been around 5 per cent.

“The disruptive impacts of the Brussels terror attacks will likely be short-lived. There are some longer-term clouds over the pace of demand growth. The stimulus from lower oil prices appears to be tapering off. And the global economic situation is subdued. Demand is still growing, but we may be shifting down a gear,” said Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and CEO. - TradeArabia News Service
 




Tags: Iata | Traffic | growth | carriers | Middle | East |

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