By Dom Welling,
Political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa singlehandedly slowed passenger demand growth in February, according to new figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The unstable situation in the Middle East and North Africa during February cut international traffic by 1%, and as such is almost entirely responsible for a fall in passenger demand growth.
Compared with a year ago, passenger demand in February 2011 increased 6%, and cargo demand increased 2.3%. However, this was noticeably down on the 8.4% and 8.7% growth recorded for passenger and cargo demand respectively in January.
In addition to the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, the more dramatic fall in cargo growth - from 8.7% in January 2011 to 2.3% in February - was partly due to factory shutdowns over the Chinese New Year period which fell in the first part of February in 2011.
Giovanni Bisignani, director general and CEO of IATA, said: "Another series of shocks is denting the industry's recovery from the recession.
"As the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia spreads across the Middle East and North Africa, demand growth across the region is taking a step back."
Meanwhile, the tragic earthquake and its aftermath in Japan will most certainly see a further dampening of demand from March, Bisignani added.
He said: "The industry fundamentals are good. But extraordinary circumstances have made the first quarter of 2011 very difficult."
