The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released its international traffic data for April which shows air freight continuing at very weak levels. International cargo was down 21.7 per cent in Aprilcompared to previous year levels.

This is the fifth consecutive month in the -20 per cent range. “This sideways progression may indicate that we have seen the worst of the economic downturn,” IATA said in a statement.

“Business confidence is improving, but inventories remain high. Until inventories adjust to more normal levels, air freight volumes will likely continue to bounce along the bottom.”

Carriers in all regions showed double digit declines with the Middle East again the strongest region at -11.1 per cent. European, North American, Asia- Pacific and African carriers had similar performance of -23.3 per cent, -22.4 per cent, -22.3 per cent and -18.8 per cent respectively. Latin American carriers were the worst performers at -24.2 per cent.

Passenger demand declined at 3.1 per cent in April, year-on-year with the average passenger load factor standing at 74.4 per cent. IATA noted that while the April 3.1 per cent drop was a clear improvement compared to the -11.1 per cent fall in March, it should be viewed with caution because of the Easter holidays in April which positively skewed the data by at least two per cent.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO. “The demand improvements that we saw in April are welcome.

“There is no improvement in revenues as yields continue to fall. And freight remains at shockingly low levels. The worst may be over. However, we have not yet seen any signs that recovery is imminent,” added Bisignani.