World Air Traffic Up 3.8 Percent in January

The number of flown passengers in the first four weeks of 2004 soared 3.8 percent compared to the same period of time the year before, the European Airlines Association (EAA) informed.

All markets operated by EAA-member airlines logged dramatic increases in the number of flown passengers in January 2004.

The North Atlantic market features the highest increase with 4.7 percent, followed by the Intra-European market with 2.2 percent, and Asia & Oceania with 1.3 percent.

The EAA indicated in a press release that the 2.4 percent spike in air traffic registered between Jan. 19 and 25 –compared to the same week of 2003- was the lowest since last October.

In the fourth week of January, the European and North Atlantic markets scored 1.4 and 2.9 hikes respectively, while Asia and Oceania dropped 2.4 percent from the year before.

Among the air carriers belonging to the EAA, Air France, Alitalia, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, Malev, Olympic Airways and Spain’s Iberia and Spanair are some of the sky heavyweights.