Passenger number growth for Middle East airlines outstripped that of the rest of the world for the fifth year in a row in 2016, according to figures from the International Air Transport Association (Iata).
However, the growth in cargo freight demand among regional carriers slowed significantly during the year.
Passenger demand – expressed as revenue passenger kilometres – for carriers including Etihad Airways and Emirates increased by 11.8 per cent over the year, compared with a global average of 6.3 per cent.
Passenger capacity among regional airlines grew by 13.7 per cent year-on-year, ahead of demand, resulting in average load factors decreasing by 1.3 per cent to 74.7 per cent during 2016, compared with a global average of 80.5 per cent.
“Connectivity [during 2016] increased with the establishment of more than 700 [worldwide] new routes,” said Iata’s director general and chief executive Alexandre de Juniac.
“And a US$44 fall in average return fares helped to make air travel even more accessible. As a result, a record 3.7 billion passengers flew safely to their destination.”
On the cargo front however, growth in demand for Middle Eastern air freight slowed to its lowest level since 2009, while still remaining higher than in most other regions.
Middle Eastern carriers experienced a 6.9 per cent increase in demand for air freight during 2016, significantly slower than the 12 per cent average annual rate over the past 10 years, according to Iata.
The drop in growth was because of weak volumes between the Middle East and Asia, and the Middle East and Europe, against a backdrop of sluggish global trade figures.
“For Gulf airlines, much freight capacity is actually carried in the bellies of passenger aircraft,” said Will Horton, the senior analyst at the Centre for Aviation (Capa) consultancy.
“As passenger flights slow expansion, freight sees slower expansion as well. Freight figures are heavily influenced by the arrival of freight aircraft, so the delivery stream of freighters impacts that.”
However, the region’s carriers experienced the second highest growth in demand behind Asia-Pacific carriers, with growth in demand of 9.8 per cent during the year.
Freight volumes at Middle Eastern carriers rose 11.2 per cent year-on-year in December, with capacity increasing 5.9 per cent over the same period.
On a global level, freight volumes recovered from a weak start to the year thanks to a strong peak season and a turnaround in new export orders contributing to an uptick in demand in the second half of the year.
Global freight demand, measured in freight tonne kilometres, rose by 3.8 per cent in 2016, nearly double the industry’s average growth rate of 2 per cent over the past five years. Freight capacity rose 5.3 per cent during the year.
jeverington@thenational.ae
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