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Mideast Carriers Post 16.5pc Traffic Growth

DUBAI - Middle Eastern carriers posted a 16.5 per cent surge in passenger demand in November to far outpace the global air traffic growth of 2.1 per cent, industry data showed on Wednesday.

Passenger numbers rose 5.1 per cent for Asia-Pacific carriers and 8.2 per cent in Latin America, but European and North American carriers recorded a 3 per cent decline in demand, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

Economic recovery in Asia drove passenger traffic growth for the region’s carriers “most directly,” said IATA, while Latin American and Middle Eastern carriers benefitted indirectly through Asian demand for commodities. But there remains “much ground still to be recovered,” IATA said.

Weeks ago IATA had predicted that the global airline industry would halve its net losses to $5.6 billion in 2010 from $11 billion this year, with carriers in Asia-Pacific experiencing a ‘dramatic improvement’ in their financial bottomline. Indian airlines industry alone accounts for $1.5 billion of the losses this year. However, Middle East airlines are seen bucking the trend and are predicted to slash their estimated losses to $300 million in 2010 from $1.2 billion this year amid a growth in passenger demand, IATA said early this month.

Dubai International Airport and other aviation hubs in the region have been recording upswing in traffic. So are UAE carriers including Emirates, Etihad and Air Arabia.

Noting that the economies of India, China and Brazil had started showing marked growth, it said the Asia-Pacific carriers were expected to show the ‘biggest reduction in average losses’ due to an upturn in yields and traffic.

While global passenger demand rose 2.1 per cent in November compared with November last year, it fell 0.7 per cent compared with October 2009, primarily due to continued weakness in North America and Europe.

IATA noted that passenger demand was still 6.0 per cent below peak levels posted in early 2008 and freight demand was 10 per cent from highs recorded a year ago.

Passenger load factors remained at pre-crisis levels of 75.4 per cent while freight load factors stood at 56.6 per cent, IATA said in a statement.

“The improvement trends for both passenger and freight are being exaggerated by the sharp fall in demand experienced during the second half of 2008,” it said.

“Demand continues to improve, but we still have a lot of ground still to recover,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director-general.

“Conserving cash, controlling costs and carefully matching capacity to demand remain the keys to survival,” he added. Carriers from the three regions posted a sharp rise in cargo demand.

Asia-Pacific carriers reported a rise of 14.5 per cent while Latin American carriers recorded a leap of 17.5 per cent in cargo traffic. Middle Eastern carriers saw traffic soar 21.4 per cent.

North American airlines’ cargo demand also grew 13.6 per cent, contrary to passenger traffic demand, which fell 3.0 per cent. Only European carriers suffered a double dip, with freight traffic down 5.6 per cent and passenger traffic slipping 3.0 per cent.

“This reflects the lingering economic malaise in the region,” said IATA.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com