International air freight demand has exceeded pre-crisis levels for the first time since early 2008 with a 1% increase in October, but IATA's director general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani warned the tentative recovery still depended on developments in the global economy.

IATA traffic figures for last month show a 10.1% year-on-year increase in passenger demand and a 14.4% increase in air freight demand, a six month decline in freight volumes was also arrested in October.

"As we approach the end of 2010, growth is returning to a more normal pattern. Passenger demand is 5% above pre-crisis levels of early 2008, while freight is 1% above. Where we go from here is dependant on developments in the global economy," said Bisignani.

Freight appears to be at a turning point he said but warned "one month does not make a trend" and cargo capacity expansion of 9.2%, for example, remains well below the demand increase of 24%.

The 14.4% year-on-year increase in freight traffic for October was marginally weaker than the 15.5% recorded in September. Nonetheless, international freight volumes actually improved slightly from its September level on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Asia-Pacific

Airlines reported a 14.9% year-on-year increase in international freight demand, down from the 16.2% recorded in September. October's growth translates to an impressive 22% annualized growth rate for the region's carriers, reflecting the strong economic recovery particularly in China and India.

With a 44% share of total freight traffic, the growth experienced by Asia-Pacific airlines played a large role in the uptick seen in overall industry freight volumes during October.

Europe

Airlines recorded a 12.1% year-on-year demand increase in October.

North America

Carriers saw a slightly larger improvement of 12.2%. For both regions, October freight volumes represented a 6% improvement on freight volumes carried in December 2009. Relative weakness in the Euro and dollar is helping export activity and boosting freight traffic.  Even so, traffic remains 12% below pre-recession levels of early 2008 for European airlines and just 2% higher in North America.