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ME aviation traffic to grow fast, predicts KFH |
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Tuesday, 08 June 2010 15:40 |
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KUWAIT: Kuwait Finance House Research Ltd has predicted that aviation traffic in the Middle East will grow by 11 to 12 percent over the next three years. In its economic bulletin on the aviation industry in the Middle East
, which was released yesterday, the investment house's research arm said that the current year is witnessing strong growth in the air travel and cargo transport sectors in a way that promotes the continuation of the upward trend seen in the second half of 2009.
The bulletin added that when the credit crisis emerged in October 2008, the International Air Transport Association(IATA) drew a very bleak picture as a result of expectations based on rumors that the economic downturn would continue for another three years. After 18 months, however, companies operating in this area began recovering their confidence, sensing that the decline would only last for a short period, and negative expectations began to recede.
The bulletin said that the carriers in the Middle East had come out of the recession stronger than their regional peers after falling to their lowest levels in the first quarter of 2009, adding that the movement of passengers and cargo has improved rapidly in recent months.
It also predicted that air traffic in general would grow by 15.2 percent this year, a growth rate that is faster than the predicted rate of growth for the travel and transport industry as a whole, with the global level estimated at 7.3 percent. It indicated that this growth will support the huge investments taking place in airport development to turn the region into a center for business and tourism. - Kuwait Times
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