ICAO sees full recovery in air travel demand from 2011, slashes 2010 forecast

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) reports scheduled passenger traffic on airlines of member states declined by 3.1% year-on-year in 2009, according to preliminary estimates. This represents the largest annual decline on record for the industry and "reflects the 1% drop in the world gross domestic product for the year, the first negative growth of the global economy since the great depression of 1929". ICAO failed to predict the severity of the decline in traffic this year, predicting positive growth of 0.9% for 2009 this time last year.