Figures for May show air-travel is finally back above pre-recession levels.

Airport news for Travel,Flights on 02/08/2010.

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Data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) at the end of June show air-travel activity in May finally surpassed the levels set before the recession hit. Passenger volumes in May rose 11.7 per cent, year-on-year, to put this year’s activity one per cent higher than pre-recession levels.

Airlines, travel agents and hotels will no doubt be breathing sighs of relief. Global travel has been under incredible pressure following the global economic recession, as sagging consumer and corporate travel activity was followed by skyrocketing fuel prices, several international health scares and the volcanic ash disaster that struck European airspace in April.

The Middle East, Africa and Asia have been responsible for a large part of the recovery. Passenger traffic in the Middle East was up 17.5 per cent in May. Demand in Africa rose 16.9 per cent. Europe continued to struggle, showing an increase in traffic of only 8.3 per cent, making it the weakest region in the world during May. Latin America, however, was the real hero, showing a 23.6-per-cent increase in activity on the same period a year before. Airlines, meanwhile, enjoyed relatively buoyant cabin factors as on average, aircraft were about three-quarters full, despite capacity expanding by 4.8 per cent.

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