Passenger traffic drops worldwide for the first time since 2003

Passenger traffic on airlines worldwide shrunk last month, the first such decline in five years and another sign of the rapidly slowing economy.
Overall traffic dropped nearly 3 percent in September compared with a year earlier, according to the International Air Transport Association, an industry trade group. It was the first time traffic declined since the SARS outbreak in 2003, which resulted in greatly reduced travel to Asia.
"The deterioration in traffic is alarmingly fast-paced and widespread," said Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive of the Geneva-based group.
The largest drop came in Africa, where traffic fell nearly 8 percent. Traffic in North America declined by about 1 percent, according to the group.
The only region to see growth in September was Latin America, where traffic increased about 2 percent. But even that was well below the 12 percent growth in Latin American traffic in August.
Bisignani said the global airline industry could lose more than $5.2 billion this year, driven by high fuel prices during the first half of the year and the current slowdown in traffic.
"Even the good news that the oil price has fallen to half its July peak is not enough to offset the impact of the drop in demand," he said.
25/10/08 Trebor Banstetter/Fort Worth Star Telegram, USA

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Categories: Foreign Oct 2008, Indian Aviation- In General Oct 2008