Dubai: The Middle East seems to be the only region in the world still enjoying growth in air traffic this year with a 13.2 per cent increase in July, according to the latest announcement by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Latin America registered some growth in April, but has been suffering a decline since, like the rest of the regions with the exception of the Middle East.

Meanwhile, global air traffic declined last month by 2.9 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The situation looks marginally better after June's decline of 7.2 per cent.

The Middle East was also the only region to experience growth in air cargo traffic, climbing one per cent in July over the same month last year.

This was a significant improvement over June, whens cargo volume fell 4.2 per cent.

Freight demand on international markets was 11.3 per cent lower in July than a year earlier, but was a considerably better result than the -16.5 per cent recorded in June.

The freight numbers tell an interesting story. The sector is being boosted as companies re-stock depleted inventories.

Once inventories are at desired levels in relation to sales, improvements in demand will level off until business and consumer confidence returns.