Airlines operating in the Middle Eastern countries, including Oman, have displayed spectacular performance, according to the latest report of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The total traffic in October 2023 rose 31.2 per cent compared to the same period last year, complementing the global traffic, which is now at 98.2 per cent of pre-Covid levels.
Airlines in almost all countries have continued recovering the passenger demand in October, with 24.1 per cent growth in October 2023 traffic over the previous year. Capacity rose 22.2 per cent, and load factor climbed 1.2 percentage points to 80.6 per cent.
International traffic climbed 29.7 per cent compared to the same month a year ago. All markets saw double-digit percentage gains year-on-year, and international RPKs (revenue passenger kilometres) reached 94.4 per cent of October 2019 levels.
"October's strong result brings the industry closer to completing the post-pandemic traffic recovery. While domestic markets remain above pre-Covid levels, international demand is recovering slowly. Asia Pacific carriers' international demand is 19.5 per cent behind 2019. This could reflect the late lifting of Covid restrictions in parts of the region, commercial developments, and political tensions," said Willie Walsh, Director General of IATA.
On the other hand, during the same period, the Asia-Pacific airlines saw an 80.3 per cent increase in October 2023 traffic compared to October 2022, while European carriers' October 2023 traffic rose 16.1per cent, North American carriers had a 17.5per cent traffic rise, Latin American airlines by 21.2per cent, and African airlines posted a 25.3 per cent traffic increase.
Sunil Dsouza, CEO of Travel Point Group, attributes the key reasons for the positive performance of ME carriers to steady demand for passenger airlines due to higher pax counts and per seat revenue count and to the high demand for cargo in the region as growth has picked up since the aftermath of Covid-19.
"Overall, Q3 of 2023 is promising for airlines in the ME region and have been posting positive trends and good numbers. Going forward, 2024 is expected to be better than 2023, provided the disturbances in the ME region get settled down soon enough," He said.
Cargo movement by the Middle Eastern carriers remained robust in October 2023, with a 10.9 per cent year-on-year increase. It significantly improved from the previous month's performance (+2.5 per cent). Carriers in the region benefited from growth in the Middle East–Asia (+10.3 per cent) and Middle East–Europe markets (+17.1 per cent). Capacity increased by 15 per cent compared to October 2022.
Europe and Asia airlines showed an increase of 8.5 per cent, while available capacity for the region's airlines increased by 30 per cent compared to October 2022 as more belly capacity came online from the passenger side of the business.
The North American carriers had the weakest performance in October, with a 1.8 per cent decrease (YoY) in cargo volumes, while European carriers saw their air cargo volumes increase by 1.0 per cent.
Venkat, Sales Manager at Singapore Airlines, said there are many reasons for the increase in numbers. "Middle East Airlines experienced growth in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) thanks to robust leisure traffic across the region. European travellers began venturing beyond Europe, notably to the Middle East, post-pandemic recovery.
Carriers like Edelweiss from Europe have introduced winter schedules for Oman, specifically targeting leisure traffic. This trend will grow in the coming months as existing demands fuel it," adds Venkat.
Latin American carriers experienced a 4.0 cent increase in cargo volumes compared to October 2022, a notable increase from the previous month's gain (+2.3 per cent). Capacity in October was up 8.3 per cent compared to the same month in 2022.
African airlines saw their air cargo volumes increase by 2.9 per cent in October 2023, much improved compared to September's performance (-0.1 per cent). Carriers in the region benefitted from the strongest annual growth since May (+16.7per cent). Capacity was 9.8 per cent above October 2022 levels.
"Until a year ago, the key Asian markets of Japan and China were still largely under severe Covid-19 travel restrictions," adds Walsh.
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