IATA: Gulf region airlines 'at the core of a major shift in global aviation'

IATA director general and CEO Tony Tyler said (09-Apr-2014) airlines based in the Gulf region "have been at the core of a major shift in global aviation", with the share of global traffic accounted for by Middle East airlines grew from 4% to 9%, in just over a decade. Mr Tyler said the growth trend is "set to continue". IATA forecasts global passenger traffic will increase by 5.8% in 2014, but Middle East airlines will more than double that with 13.0% growth, driven primarily by what is happening in the Gulf. He noted that governments in the Gulf are "among those strategically using aviation as an economic catalyst". Airlines in the Middle East are expected to contribute USD2.2 billion to the airlines industry's USD18.7 billion profit this year. [more - original PR]