April International Air Traffic up 10 Percent, IATA Reports

International air passenger traffic rose 9.9 percent in April over the same month last year, largely due to a late Easter, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said earlier this week.

Cross-border air freight, considered a prime indicator of the health of world trade, rose 6.1 percent in April on a year-on-year basis, it said. Domestic air traffic is excluded from the data.

Easter, which traditionally sees a surge in air travel, fell in April this year rather than in March.

“Strong demand is good news for an industry that continues to take a beating from oil prices averaging $20 a barrel more than in 2005,” said IATA Director-General Giovanni Bisignani.

“Airlines continue to cut costs and improve efficiency, but it will still not be enough to fully mitigate the price of fuel,” he said, adding that fuel costs will be top of the agenda at IATA´s annual general assembly in Paris this weekend.

The Geneva-based organization represents 265 airlines comprising 94 percent of scheduled international air traffic.