IATA Director General and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani commented that "Current recovery signs in the freight market are encouraging, although the main passenger business is still significantly down. The air freight trend is often a leading indicator of global economic trade recovery. We are seeing a fragmented picture of traffic volume by region with Asia now slowly growing, while the US and Europe continue at levels below 2001. Overall capacity appears to be lining up with demand, although the level of capacity reduction varies markedly by region. The key will be to ensure that the airlines do not pursue passenger volume at the expense of profitability."

Editors Notes:

  • IATA has reinstated the release of monthly industry statistics for international scheduled traffic. Statistics will be released during the business week of each month for traffic carried two months prior (ie. in the first week of September for July)
  • Released statistics give top line numbers for passenger and freight traffic and capacity. Statistics are based on voluntary reporting from a number of IATA carriers around the world