Global passenger traffic got off to a robust start this year with demand in January showing the strongest increase in more than five years.
The traffic demand, measured by revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs, jumped 9.6% compared with January 2016, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The surge was attributed to the Lunar New Year celebrations, which took place in January this year, against February last year.
The global industry body estimates that holiday-related travel contributed up to half a percentage point in extra demand growth.
Airline capacity in January rose 8%, and load factor climbed 1.2 percentage points to 80.2%.
"2017 is off to a very strong start, with demand at levels not seen since 2011," said IATA director-general Alexandre de Juniac.
"The extraordinary growth is supported by an upturn in the global economic cycle and a return to a more normal environment after the terrorism and political 'shock' events seen in early 2016," he said.
The month saw international passenger traffic surge 9.3% compared with the same period last year, with capacity growing 7.5% and load factor climbing 1.3 percentage points to 80.3%.
All regions recorded year-on-year increases in demand, led by the Middle East and Asia-Pacific with 14.4% and 10.9% growth, respectively.
Domestic air travel climbed 9.9% in January with all markets except Brazil showing growth, paced by double-digit increases in China, India and Russia.
Capacity increased 8.7% and load factor was 80.1%, up 0.9 percentage points, according to IATA.