(GENEVA) The International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its monthly statistics for scheduled international airline traffic. August passenger traffic was down 4.6% on August 2001, but was better than July 2002 results of -6.5%. Freight traffic continues to be up at +10.6% over August 2001.

“Asia Pacific leads the way with actual year-on-year traffic growth” commented Giovanni Bisignani, IATA Director General and CEO. “Passenger traffic for European and North American carriers remains below 2001 levels, however August showed improvement over July. Recovery is faster for international freight traffic with 10.6% overall growth in August. Asia again is leading, but all major route areas recorded positive growth. Continued recovery requires stability. War in the Middle East is the industry`s biggest threat as it would mean fewer passengers and higher costs at a time when we are already fighting to survive.”

IATA has 273 member airlines from 143 countries. Its members carry over 98% of total international scheduled traffic.

Released statistics give top line numbers for passenger and freight traffic and capacity. Statistics are based on voluntary reporting from a number of IATA carriers around the world

Subscriptions to the full statistical report provide a monthly update of major industry trends. Subscriptions are available from the IATA Aviation Information & Research Department (AIR), located in London or on the newly launched IATA Global Aviation Business Information site www.iataGABI.com. Please contact Patrick Folley at [email protected] or tel: +44-20 8607 6207

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