The downward spiral for passenger traffic has eased seomwhat according to ACI’s latest statistics, with international traffic growth down by a milder 1.4 per cent relative to Oct ’07, whereas global traffic remained depressed at -3.4 per cent due to poor domestic results worldwide down on average by 5 per cent. Growth in the first ten months of the year is flat at -0.6 per cent. Global freight growth results are worse off however, with total freight handled worldwide in Oct ’08 down by 7 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier. International freight fell by 8 per cent and domestic tonnage dropping by 5 per cent. The first ten months of 2008 showed total freight was down by 0.3 per cent, with international freight rising by a mild 1.2 per cent while domestic freight dropped by 3.6 per cent. The impact on regional freight results reflect the ongoing plunge in the international markets with Asia-Pacific down 8 per cent, Europe down 5.6 per cent and North America down 8.7 per cent. “The outlook for the immediate future remains bleak,” said ACI Director of Economics Andreas Schimm. The few positive international results are likely to be compromised in the next months by the tragic events in Mumbai and the siege of the airports in Bangkok, dragging down the Asia-Pacific region’s performance,” he added. “The world’s major economies have gone into recession with repercussions on the economies of emerging countries, trade and employment. Against this complex background, signs of a sustainable recovery will be a long time coming.” In Asia-Pacific, domestic traffic grew by 1 per cent as a strong rebound within China helped compensate for the continued declines in India. A solid increase in international passengers in India and Beijing could not head off the overall downward trend in the region of -3 per cent, however.