The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic results for January showing a strong increase in demand. Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 8% compared to January 2013, an improvement over the December 2013 growth of 6.8% and the full year 2013 growth of 5.2%. January capacity increased 6.7%, pushing load factor up 0.9 percentage points to 78.1%.

''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,'' said Tony Tyler, IATA's director general and CEO.

International passenger markets January international passenger demand was up 7.8% compared to the year-ago period with airlines in all regions recording growth and the strongest gains in the Middle East. Capacity rose 6.8% and load factor climbed 0.7 percentage points to 78.3%.