Airlines suffered record drop in traffic

World airlines suffered their biggest traffic decline since 1945 last year, making 2009 the "worst year the industry has ever seen," and can expect only a slow recovery in 2010 , the International Air Transport Association said Wednesday. Passenger demand fell 3.5 percent while in the freight sector demand was down 10.1 percent. "Full-year 2009 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic ... showed the industry ending 2009 with the largest ever post-war decline," IATA said in a statement. "In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen," said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of an association that groups the world's biggest airlines' association. "We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business," he added. Bisignani warned that while the worst appeared to be over with the recovery in the global economic climate, airlines would have to keep their costs reined in during a "Spartan year" in 2010. Passenger traffic improved in the final months of 2009 , after a slump triggered by the financial and economic crisis. In December, passenger traffic increased by 4.5 percent in December compared to the same month the previous year, and by 1.6 percent over November, latest IATA data showed. While airlines had continued to cut capacity and flights, yields were still five to 10 percent below 2008 levels by the end of last year. IATA nevertheless predicted a slow recovery for cash-strapped carriers. " Revenue improvements will be at a much slower pace than the demand growth that we are starting to see," said Bisignani.