The organization says July 2009 freight traffic was only 11.3% below the '08 level, compared to a 16.5% year-over-year decline for June and 19.3% average decline for the first seven months of the year. IATA director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani attributes the relative improvement in performance to the restocking of inventories. "The sector is being boosted as companies restock depleted inventories," he comments. Unfortunately, he continues, the boost may be short-lived. "Once inventories are at desired levels in relation to sales, improvements in demand will level off until business and consumer confidence returns," he says.

According to the report, all regions except Africa saw improvement in demand compared to June. The Middle East, however, was the only region to show actual growth. Asia-Pacific, European and North American carriers recorded 9.5%, 16.2% and 14.6% year-over-year declines, respectively, but the Middle East recorded a 1% increase. Latin America also fared well, with a year-over-year decline of only 1.2%.

Bisignani says continuing downward pressure on freight rates may have helped boost freight levels, but he doubts the cheaper rates will help drive up traffic in coming months because rising fuel costs will not allow shippers to drop pricing much further. "Given the large amount of debt in all sectors of the economy, instant relief is not in the forecast," he states.