ME carriers have an edge over long-haul Asian connections

The regional carriers posted a 25.8 per cent growth in February this year as compared to the global average of plus 9.5 percent. The region with the second highest growth was Asia-Pacific (13.5 per cent, followed by Africa (9.8 per cent), Latin America (8.5 per cent), North America (4.4 per cent) and Europe (4.3 per cent).

With respect to cargo, the results were even better with the global average growth standing at plus 26.5 per cent in February in comparison to the same month last year. Middle East saw growth of 33.1 per cent, a little behind Asia-Pacific and Latin America. “We are moving in the right direction,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. “In two to three months, the industry should be back to pre-recession traffic levels. This is still not a full recovery. The task ahead is to adjust to two years of lost growth.”