IATA figures show global decline, but Mideast traffic up 13.2pc

LATEST figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show a decline in global air traffic month-on-month of 2.9 per cent in July, but also a bottoming out from June`s 7.2 per cent with Middle East region performing well with and increase 13.2 per cent.
Falling markets afflicted South America most following strong growth in April while in other regions, air cargo demand fell 11.3 per cent year on year but showed a marked improvement on June.
The Middle East was able to rise one per cent in the month of July compared to year previous, and against June`s drop of 4.2 per cent, the only region to experience growth in air cargo traffic.
The freight sector is seeing a false boost, said IATA, by re-stocking of depleted inventories, but once restocked against real sales figures, results are expected to flatten until demand returns.