Middle East carriers see slowest monthly growth since Feb 2009: IATA

Middle Eastern carriers saw their slowest rate of international growth in September in over 8 years, with a temporary ban on electronics and proposed travel restrictions hitting demand, according to IATA Thursday. Demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometers, rose 3.7% in September, the slowest rise since February 2009, IATA said in its regular monthly traffic update. Gulf carriers such as Emirates and Etihad have come under pressure from overcapacity, security concerns and a drop in regional business travel. IATA said that traffic between the region and the US had dropped in August, the most recent month for which that data is available. That was the 6 straight month of declines making it the only international market not to have shown year-on-year growth in the first 8 months of the year. <br/>