DUBAI – Middle East carriers posted a 25 percent jump in passenger numbers in February as they maintained their strong performance helped by regional travel growth and long-haul connections, new industry figures showed on Tuesday.

“Travel markets continue to develop within the region creating new demand. Successful competition on long-haul connections to Asia over Middle Eastern hubs has improved market share for the region’s carriers,” the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) said.

The passenger traffic growth of 25.8 percent for the Middle East was the strongest of any region.

Globally February passenger numbers improved by 9.5 percent, while cargo movement jumped 26.5 percent compared with the same month last year in a sign of recovery for the aviation sector.

“We are moving in the right direction. In two to three months, the industry should be back to pre-recession traffic levels. This is still not a full recovery. The task ahead is to adjust to two years of lost growth,” IATA Director-General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said.

The Middle East region has paced ahead other regions, recording strong double-digit growth month on month.

Regional carriers saw passenger traffic increase 23.6 percent in January compared to the same period last year, starting 2010 off on a good note.

Their traffic rose 19 percent in December and 11.2 percent during the whole of 2009 despite the year being one of the worst years the global aviation industry had ever seen.

Source: business.maktoob.com