Middle East carriers had the strongest year-over-year demand growth for international air travel in January, recording a 14.4 per cent increase compared to a year ago, said a report.

Following closely behind was Asia-Pacific (10.9 per cent), Europe (8.3 per cent), Latin America (8.2 per cent) and Africa (5.6 per cent), with North America lugging far behind (3.2 per cent), according to global passenger traffic results released by International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Capacity growth of Middle Eastern carriers was recorded at 11.4 per cent and load factor rose against the year-ago period for a third consecutive month, up 2.1 percentage points to 79.8 per cent.

On the global scenario, Iata said the international passenger traffic results for January showed that demand surged 9.3 per cent compared to the same month in 2016, with capacity jumping 7.5 per cent and load factor climbing 1.3 percentage point to 80.3 per cent.

Domestic air travel also recorded positive results as demand climbed 9.9 per cent in January year-on-year. All markets except Brazil showed growth, paced by double-digit increases in China, India and Russia. Capacity increased 8.7 per cent and load factor was 80.1 per cent, up 0.9 per cent percentage points.

Global passenger traffic results for January 2017 showed demand (revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rise 9.6 per cent compared to January 2016 - the strongest increase in more than five years.

Results were positively affected by traffic associated with the Lunar New Year celebrations, which occurred in January this year, compared to February in 2016. Iata estimates the holiday-related travel contributed up to one-half a percentage point in extra demand growth. January capacity rose 8.0 per cent, and load factor climbed 1.2 percentage points to 80.2 per cent.

"2017 is off to a very strong start, with demand at levels not seen since 2011. This is supported by the upturn in the global economic cycle and a return to a more normal environment after the terrorism and political ‘shock’ events seen in early 2016," said Alexandre de Juniac, Iata’s director general and CEO. - TradeArabia News Service