RIYADH: Middle East airlines showed signs of recovery in May as passenger demand decline eased to 28.4 percent from 46.6 percent a month earlier despite the ongoing conflict.
The improvement helped limit the global decline in air passenger demand to 2.2 percent from 3.4 percent in April, as disruptions caused by the regional conflict began to stabilize, according to the latest data from the International Air Transport Association.
Excluding the Middle East, global passenger demand grew 0.7 percent year on year, underscoring the regional conflict’s outsized impact on overall industry performance.
The recovery reflected easing operational disruptions after widespread airspace restrictions and flight cancelations in April, when the conflict had its most severe impact on regional carriers.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s director general, said: “Overall, May demand still appeared to be largely resilient in the face of high fuel prices and air fares. While the recent sharp drop in oil prices is an encouraging development, the challenges created by the war will likely persist for some time.”
