Apo to Bloomberg news desk
UAE among top five aviation markets
Dubai Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Led by Dubai, the UAE has become one of the top five fastest growing air
travel markets in the world, according to the International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
China tops the list with projected passenger traffic growth at 12.5 per
cent, followed by Poland with 11 per cent, Hungary with 9.6 per cent, and
the UAE with 9.3 per cent, according to its latest air traffic projection
report covering the period 2004-08.
The Czech Republic, forecast to record 9.1 per cent growth, rounds off the
top five rankings.
Passenger traffic through Dubai International Airport recorded 20 per cent
growth last year, reaching 21.7 million, which is close to the passenger
traffic recorded in China the previous year.
Passenger traffic in China was at 21.9 million in 2003, while the UAE
recorded 17.7 million, IATA statistics showed.
The Asia Pacific was the highest growth area in terms of passenger traffic,
topping the list at 19.5 per cent, closely followed by Europe-Middle East
routes which experienced 18.9 per cent growth last year, compared to average
international growth of 11 per cent.
These are five-year forecasts for major global traffic flows combining data
from participating IATA airlines and other industry data sources.
