Traffic decline stabilising - IATA

But passenger numbers still falling

Passenger demand fell 9.3% in May compared with the same month in 2008, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said today (June 25).

The figure also showed a marked rise compared with April when passenger numbers dropped by 3.1%.

But IATA said that the figures were both better than the 11.1% drop in March and said "this indicates that a floor may now have been reached."

But the Association added: "Although the impact of the recession appears to be stabilizing, strong headwinds from debt and low asset prices are expected to weaken and delay any significant recovery."

IATA said Europe suffered a 9.4% drop in traffic as well as weak long haul markets.

Legacy carriers in the region were also hit by the impact of low cost carriers whose traffic grew by 2.1% during the month.

North America saw a decline of 10.9%, Latin America which was hit by the swine flu outbreak, 9.2%, Africa 6% and Asia/Pacific by 14.3%.

Again the Middle East was the only region to see an increase - this time of 9.5%.

Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director general andceo, said: "We may have hit bottom, but we are a long way from recovery.

"Capacity is not aligned with demand. Passenger load factors dropped 3.3% over the last 12 months.

"The impact on revenue is dramatic. After a 20% fall in international passenger revenue in the first quarter, we estimate that the drop accelerated to as much as -30% in May.

"This crisis is the worst we have ever seen."

www.iata.org