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Based on recent statistics released by International Air Transport Association (IATA) for 2010, rumors are already in the air that 2011 will show rapid growth and changing trends in comparison to 2010 for Air Traffic.

Considering the weeks of snow disruptions, flights delays, Airline strikes and fare hikes 2010 still managed to score an increase in Air Travel in comparison to the post recession 2008 fall.

This year, strike hit Spanish Airports the hub of Iberian Airline, which has a recent merger with British Airways. While last year’s British Airways Union strike still had its impact on the airline’s reputation plus, the mid air engine troubles experienced by another popular International airline had been real challenges for the aviation industry. Topped with the flight cancellations in last week of November and Early December, due to adverse weather conditions throughout Europe that tremendously affected flights with Air Zimbabwe, Lufthansa, KLM, Air France, Iberia, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air Afriqiyah, Kenya Airways, Arik Airways, Qatar, Emirates, Etihad and nearly all airlines holding presence in Europe. For most important time period of the holiday season, Gatwick, Edinburg and even Heathrow Airport in UK remained close for some or other time.

However, despite all the hardships, IATA‘s recently released figure state that the level of international air travel is now 4% above the pre-recession peak of early 2008. Further, the Association also states that November’s traffic results show an 8.2% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers.

Exhibiting his views on these changing trends in air travel, Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s CEO, said the industry is “shifting gears in the recovery cycle”. However, he further added that “Growth is slowing towards normal historical levels in the 5-6% range,”

The African carriers were the only ones to show an increase in growth rates from October (12.6%) to November (16.4%).

If Europe turns up more prepared for snow and adverse weather conditions, it can be expected that 2011 Air Travel numbers and carrier growth will score higher and better than 2010.