Figures for January released by IATA show air freight and passenger traffic heavily down again, dropping 23.2 and 5.6 per cent respectively. The sharp fall in air freight was even deeper than the 22.6 per cent drop in December and marks the eighth consecutive month of contraction for freight traffic. Asia Pacific carriers, representing 43 per cent of the market, led the cargo decline with a 28.1 per cent year-on-year drop. This was followed closely by the other major market players: European carriers (-23 per cent) and North American carriers (-19.3 per cent). “Alarm bells are ringing everywhere,” says IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani. “Every region’s carriers are reporting big drops in cargo.”