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The international passenger load factor stood at 71.2 per cent, down from the 74.5 per cent recorded in May 2008.

A 17.4-per-cent decline in international cargo demand was an improvement on the 21.7-per-cent drop in April. Since December, cargo demand had been moving sideways in the minus-20-per-cent range. May's relative improvement was one of the first signs of the economic recovery being anticipated in equity markets.

International passenger demand weakened from the minus 3.1 per cent recorded in April to minus 9.3 per cent in May.

But both of the past two months have been slightly stronger than the 11.1-per-cent decline in March. This indicates that a floor may now have been reached.

However, the capacity adjustment of minus 5 per cent in May did not keep pace with the fall in demand during the same month. Moreover, although the impact of the recession appears to be stabilising, strong headwinds from debt and low asset prices are expected to weaken and delay any significant recovery.

"We may have hit bottom, but we are a long way from recovery," said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's director-general and chief executive.

"Capacity is not aligned with demand. Passenger-load factors dropped 3.3 percentage points over the last 12 months. The impact on revenue is dramatic.

"After a 20-per-cent fall in international passenger revenue in the first quarter, we estimate the drop accelerated to as much as minus 30 per cent in May. This crisis is the worst we have ever seen," he said.

May was the first full month to feel the impact of the type-A (H1N1) flu pandemic on travel. IATA estimates the global impact of the flu on global travel patterns in May was a 1-per-cent drop in passenger traffic.

Asia-Pacific carriers recorded a 14.3-per-cent fall in demand.