Asia -Pacific has seen a 5.1 percent increase year-on-year for air travel during November 2009, reflecting the recovery of most Asian economies, according to aviation industry data.
However, the figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show strong regional disparities as key regions such as Europe and North America saw a continued slide in demand.
According to IATA, Asian traffic growth is driven most directly by economic recovery, while Middle Eastern growth of 16.5 percent "can also be related to the strength of Asia and the ability of Middle East carriers to facilitate connection traffic to the region through Middle Eastern hubs".
However, both European and North American carriers experienced a 3 percent drop in November passenger traffic.
IATA noted that European carriers have cut capacity by 3.9 percent and North American carriers by 6.7 percent.
Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO, said: “Demand continues to improve, but we still have a lot of ground to recover. We cannot anticipate any significant improvement in yields in the coming months. So, conserving cash, controlling costs and carefully matching capacity to demand remain at the keys to survival."
Kenny Coyle
