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Air travel growth fuelled by emerging economies

Growth of 5.9% across air passenger travel has been fuelled by demand from emerging markets, say the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

The year-on-year comparison for March showed strong growth across the Asia-Pacific region and European carriers recorded a 3.7% growth on international services.

In China, the domestic market boomed as air travel capacity grew by 12.4% and passenger growth surged by 16.6%. India’s domestic market also performed well with a 7% increase.

IATA director and CEO, Tony Tyler, said: “Strong demand for air travel is consistent with improving business conditions. Performance, however, has been uneven. Mature markets are seeing relatively little growth while emerging markets continue to show a robust expansion.

“Although oil prices have softened in recent weeks, they remain high against historical averages. In view of this, airlines are responding with a very cautious approach to capacity management.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .