Global Airline Traffic Surging While Europe Lags
Middle East airlines led the surge in international traffic growth in February with a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent.
Middle East airlines led the surge in international traffic growth in February with a year-on-year increase of 10.6 percent.

Demand for air travel continues to surge worldwide as emerging markets led another strong month of traffic growth in February. International Air Transport Association (IATA) data released last week shows that passenger demand rose 3.7 percent during the month compared with February 2012. According to IATA, since last October passenger demand has grown at an annualized rate of 9 percent, almost double the growth trend over the first nine months of 2012. Capacity rose 1 percent on the previous February and the industry load factor stood steady at 77.1 percent, suggesting a measured and proper response to the demand increase by airlines.