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	Air passenger traffic in the Asia-Pacific region is to grow by 5.7 per cent a year between 2013 and 2017, compared with 3.9 per cent annually in Europe and 3.6 per cent in North America, the International Air Transport Association was quoted as saying.</div>
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	&quot;The situation right now is barely tolerable in some pockets of the region,&quot; said Hsin Chen Chung, head of the Air Traffic Management Research Institute at Singapore&#39;s Nanyang Technological University (NTU).</div>
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	Countries should work together to deal with the increasing demand for international and domestic air travel in the region, he was quoted as saying.</div>
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	With Asian states unwilling to share information about their air traffic capabilities, Hsin predicts than an open-sky policy such as the one in Europe will not be feasible.</div>
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	But the region should strive to set up common procedures and better technology for air traffic control, he said.</div>
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	The Air Traffic Management Research Institute was jointly set up by NTU and the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore last November to look into the management of the region&#39;s air capacity.</div>
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	DPA</div>

Experts warn of gridlock in Asian skies

Singapore - Asian air traffic could be heading for "catastrophic gridlock," aviation experts warned, urging the region's countries to cooperate more, The Straits Times reported Monday.