DOHA/GENEVA: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for November 2013, showing a moderation in the pace of recent demand growth. Total revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose 4.1 percent compared to November 2012. This was slower than the 6.5 percent year-over-year growth recorded in October.
However, the Middle East carriers had the strongest year-over-year demand growth at 9.7 percent. Airlines in the region have benefited from strong growth in the business-related premium travel throughout the year, particularly to Africa and other developing markets. Capacity the Middle East rose 12.8 percent and load factor slipped two percentage points to 72.1 percent.
International passenger demand was up 4.8 percent compared to the year-ago period, while capacity rose 6.3 percent versus November 2012 and load factor dipped 1 percentage points to 75.5 percent. All regions except Africa recorded year-over-year increases in demand.
November traffic in Africa fell 2 percent compared to the same month in 2012. Capacity climbed 2.6 percent, pushing load factor down 3 percentage points to 63.5 percent, by far the lowest for any region. The Peninsula
