Strong airline demand emerges in February: IATA. Mindset shift needed for booming emerging markets

What a difference a year makes. In Feb-2009, the airline industry was reeling. International passenger and freight demand down by 10.1% and 22.1% on the same month in 2008, according to IATA. Feb-2009 marked the "bottom of the cycle" for passenger traffic during the global economic recession, according to the industry body, while cargo hit bottom in Dec-2008. Latest traffic data for Feb-2010 showed international scheduled air traffic rose 9.5% year-on-year (ie still 1.4% below pre-crisis levels), while cargo demand rose 26.5% (and has a further 3% to recover to return to pre-crisis levels). But the really interesting numbers are in short-haul and emerging markets.