Middle East airlines reported the strongest international passenger growth of 18% this January against the global average of 7.8%, according to International Air Transport Association (Iata).

“Middle East carriers’ demand soared 18.1% in January, far and away the strongest growth for any region,” Iata said in a report.

Capacity climbed 15% versus the same month in 2013 and load factor climbed 2.2 percentage points to 81.1%, also the highest for any region, it said.

“The Middle East carriers are benefiting from the strength of regional economies and solid growth in business-related premium travel, supported by the performance of internationally trading industries and key economies such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” the report said.

On the other hand, global total revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) rose 7.8% and capacity by 6.8%, leading to 0.7% rise in load factor to 78.3%.

“2014 is off to a strong start, with travel demand accelerating over the healthy results achieved in 2013, in line with stronger growth in advanced economies and emerging market regions,” Tony Tyler, Iata’s director general and CEO, said.

Asia-Pacific airlines’ traffic rose 8% in January 2014. Capacity climbed 7.5% year-over-year and load factor rose 0.4 percentage points to 78.2%.

“Comparisons with December traffic suggest a continuation of the slower growth seen toward the end of 2013, likely in line with signs of a slowdown in the Chinese economy,” Iata said.

European carriers saw traffic rise of 6.4% in January this year, capacity by 5.9% and load factor by 0.4 percentage points to 77.2%.

Modest economic improvements in the eurozone since the second quarter and rising consumer and business confidence have been providing a stronger demand base for international air travel, Iata said, adding the services sector has been signalling expansion and eurozone job losses have stabilised.

Latin American carriers saw a 4.4% rise in demand in January 2014. Capacity rose 2% and load factor jumped 1.8 percentage points to 80.8%.

Finding that the RPK rise of 4.4% is well below the 8.1% increase achieved for 2013, Iata said despite the deceleration, the outlook for continued demand growth remains broadly positive, with continued robust performance of economies such as Colombia, Peru and Chile, and the upcoming demand to be generated by the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

North American airlines reported a 3.5% growth in passenger demand in January this year. Capacity rose 2.5%, pushing load factor up 0.8 percentage points to 80.4%, third highest among regions.

“Rising consumer spending and employment growth are expected to support continued demand growth in the coming months,” it said.

African airlines’ international passenger demand rose 2.7%, the slowest rate of growth for any region, while capacity rose 4%, resulting in a 0.9 percentage point drop in load factor to 68.9%, the lowest load factor for any region.

“Results could partly reflect adverse developments in some parts of the continent, including the slowdown of the South African economy as well as some moderation in trade volumes,” it said.