The year long decline in global air cargo slowed in July but revenue and freight rates remain under intense pressure, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. Cargo volumes fell 11.3 per cent last month from July 2008, compared with a 16.5 per cent year-on-year decline in June and a 19.3 per cent average for the first seven months of the year, it said. Despite this improvement the July load factor, or capacity utilisation, fell to 47.6 per cent from 49 percent in July 2008. “The stabilisation of air freight demand in the first quarter and its improvement in the second quarter has helped reduce the rate at which excess capacity has been growing,” IATA said. But “downward pressure on freight rates and revenues continued to intensify in July. Demand may look better, but the bottom line has not improved,” said IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani. “We have seen little change to the unprecedented fall in yields and revenues. The months ahead are marked by many uncertainties, including the price of oil. The road to recovery will be both slow and volatile,” Bisignani added.