The International Air Transport Association (IATA) today announced scheduled international traffic for February 2011 showing increases of 6.0% and 2.3% respectively for passenger and cargo demand compared to February 2010.

February demand growth was down significantly from the revised 8.4% and 8.7% expansion recorded in January for passenger and cargo traffic respectively. The political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa during February is estimated to have cut international traffic by about 1%. As such it is responsible almost entirely for the slippage in passenger demand growth.

In addition to the political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, the more dramatic fall in cargo growth (from 8.7% in January 2011 to 2.3% in February) was impacted in part by factory shutdowns due to the Chinese New Year period which fell in the first part of February in 2011.

"Another series of shocks is denting the industry's recovery from the recession. As the unrest in Egypt and Tunisia spreads across the Middle East and North Africa, demand growth across the region is taking a step back. The tragic earthquake and its aftermath in Japan will most certainly see a further dampening of demand from March. The industry fundamentals are good. But extraordinary circumstances have made the first quarter of 2011 very difficult," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.

February marked a decline in load factors in both the cargo and the passenger business. February passenger load factors stood at 73.0%. On a seasonally adjusted basis they have lost 2.2 percentage points on peak levels as capacity additions have consistently exceeded demand growth. Freight load factors have deteriorated even faster to 51.6%. This is 4 percentage points below their peak in May 2010, on a seasonally adjusted basis.