Middle Eastern carriers recorded the second-highest growth globally in passenger traffic year-on-year in May, up 17.5 percent, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The region’s carriers continue to post strong growth with connecting traffic through their hubs, although the pace of growth has dropped from the over 20 per cent increases recorded earlier in the year, the global air traffic body said in its scheduled traffic statistics for May.

The bulk of Middle Eastern traffic was generated through Gulf states, with airlines including Dubai-based Emirates, UAE carrier Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways.

European carriers posted the lowest growth of 8.3 per cent in passenger traffic in May, Asia-Pacific carriers saw a 13.2 per cent rise, while North America's grew 10.9 and African carriers saw demand increase by 16.9 per cent.
    Air freight growth for Middle Eastern airlines stood at 38.6 percent for May, IATA said.
  

The demand rebounded strongly across the globe with a 11.7 per cent increase in passenger traffic and a 34.3 per cent jump in freight demand compared to May 2009. Latin America's airlines saw the fastest growth at 23.6 per cent.
  

“Demand rebounded strongly in May following the impact of the European volcanic ash fiasco in April. Passenger traffic is now one per cent above pre-recession levels, while the freight market is 6 per cent bigger,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.

A capacity increase of 4.8 per cent in May lagged behind the strong upturn in passenger demand. This pushed May’s international passenger load factor to 76 per cent (78.7 per cent when adjusted for seasonality).

'This is the sixth consecutive month with seasonally adjusted load factors near 79 per cent. Matching capacity to demand will become increasingly challenging in the coming months.

According to IATA data, the aircraft utilization remains 5 per cent below pre-recession levels for single-aisle aircraft and 8 per cent for longer-range twin-aisle aircraft. The 100 aircraft taken out of storage during May and 93 the new aircraft delivered globally add further capacity pressure, it added.

Similarly, the strong surge in cargo traffic outstripped a capacity increase of 12.3 per cent, pushing load factors to a record high of 55.7per cent (56.3 per cent  when adjusted for seasonality).

International freight demand

Latin American and African carriers recorded the fastest increases at 60.2 and 58.2 per cent  respectively, while European carriers showed the weakest growth at 21.9 per cent. It is anticipated that the 15 per cent fall in the value of the Euro will stimulate outbound traffic with cheaper European exports.

The IATA chief pointed out that strong traffic growth was contributing to a strengthening industry bottom line as airlines were expected to post a $2.5 billion profit in 2010 in a dramatic turnaround from the $9.9 billion lost in 2009.

“This is good news, but it is only a 0.5 per cent margin. We are still a long way from sustainable profitability,” said Bisignani.

“In the short-term, airlines need to focus our efforts on nurturing the recovery by continuing to match capacity carefully to improving demand conditions.  And everybody must control costs. This includes airports, air navigation service providers, global distribution systems and labor. There are no exceptions,” Bisignani stated.

'Two months ago, the Icelandic volcano made it clear that aviation is vital to the global economy. When the volcano went to sleep, politicians developed amnesia to the lessons-learned. Germany proposed a euro1 billion departure tax that will dampen demand instead of stimulating growth, he added.

'The new UK government is talking about a future without domestic aviation and no capacity growth, without any analysis of the devastation that this would bring to the UK’s economy. And the much anticipated accelerated progress on the euros 5 billion savings of the Single European Sky has been truncated at incremental change. The traveling public and Europe’s struggling economy deserves much better than this short-sighted policy myopia,” Bisignani remarked.

At its recent annual general meeting, IATA announced Vision 2050 - an initiative to build a common vision among industry stakeholders for a sustainable future for air transport.

Announcing the vision, Bisignani pointed to four cornerstones of change: a new and sustainable energy source, a regulatory regime that allows airlines to operate as normal businesses, cost-efficient infrastructure that meets the needs of users, and services that exceed customer expectations.-TradeArabia News Service

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