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Mideast airline passenger increases, load factor dips in Oct.

Xinhua, December 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Middle East Airliners recorded a 10.3 percent passenger increase in October, yet the region lagged behind in the load factor, as per the International Air Transport Association's (IATA) figures Thursday.

Yet again, the Middle East surpassed international passenger growth, which stood at 7.6 percent of the same month.

Passenger capacity in the Middle East rose to 12.7 percent, however, this caused the load factor to dip by 1.5 percent points, reaching 72.5 percent, positioning the Middle East as the only region which witnessed a decline in the load factor for the month of October, said IATA.

"In most parts of the world, strong travel demand exists -- exceeding growth capacity," said Tony Tyler, Director General and CEO of IATA.

"Load factors averaged over 80 percent, with customers benefitting from decreased fares," he added.

Latin America succeeded the Middle East, with Central and South America recording a 10 percent passenger increase.

Tyler said the end of the year is usually a festive time worldwide, "However, this year's celebrations are accompanied by the solemn presence of terrorism both in the Middle East and Europe, including the downed Russian Metrojet 9268 aircraft."

Metrojet 9268 was a Russian Kogalymavia airline charter passenger aircraft which crashed in northern Sinai on October 31, 2015, killing all 224 individuals, comprised of 217 passengers and seven crew members onboard, a tragedy that was claimed by the Islamic State.

"The most influential response to acts of terrorism is to not allow them to alter how we live our lives," he sai