The review, Amadeus Total Demand by airconomy, shows that demand for air traffic between APAC and the Middle East grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 13% to almost 3 million passengers a month in Q1  2011.

Dubai remains the most prominent origin and destination among the fastest growing city pairs, such as Dubai-Mumbai, Dubai-Karachi and Dubai-Delhi.

Traffic between the Middle East and Europe surged 10.7% CAGR over the last two years, at about 2.4 million passengers a month. Dubai, London and Paris are the main chief contributors, with London-Tel Aviv, Paris-Cairo, and Dubai-London as rapidly growing city pairs.

“The Middle East is frequently misconceived as just a point of transfer. Our data, however, shows strong evidence of the sharp increase as origin or final destination of this part of the world,” says David Doctor, director, Amadeus Airline and Travel Agency Distribution.

European demand to and from Asia Pacific added a hefty 4.8% CAGR to a traffic flow which is already the strongest worldwide with nearly 3.5 million passengers. Of the top city-pairs contributing to this growth, London is the busiest travel point. London-Bangkok, London-Delhi and London-Hong Kong, are among the top city pairs causing this increase.

Traffic to and from the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) also shows strong increase, while the traditionally strong routes between North America Europe remain stagnant

Passenger traffic between Brazil and the Middle East is up by 77, Brazil and Russia by 63%, and Brazil and India by 34%. Traveller flux between Russia and South America grew by 41%; Russia to Africa by 31% and Russia to Asia Pacific by 27%.

The global emerging economic centres are also leading in domestic growth. Domestic traffic is increasing every year in Brazil by 28%, Russia by 23%, and China and India by 14% each. China is the second largest domestic air travel market in absolute terms with about 20 million passengers.