Recovery is nowhere in sight. International Air Transport Assn. figures for April show a 3.1% decline in passenger demand and a 21.7% drop in cargo compared with the same period last year. April's passenger traffic dip and 74.4% load factor may appear as clear improvements in contrast with the 11.1% drop in demand and 72.1% load factor recorded in March-but IATA cautions that April's high volume of holiday travel could be skewing data by at least 2%. Asia-Pacific carriers continued to see the most significant deterioration, with an 8.6% decline in passenger demand. Meanwhile, Middle Eastern airlines saw an 11.2% uptick in traffic against a 12.3% rise in capacity. Freight, however, remains at "shockingly low levels," says IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani. April was the fifth consecutive month of more than a 20% drop in demand compared with previous-year levels, with carriers in all regions showing double-digit declines. However, Bisignani says this "sideways progression may indicate that we have seen the worst of the economic downturn." But he cautions that although "the worst may be over, we have not seen any signs that recovery is imminent."
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