Global air traffic to dip in 2009

The world's air traffic is expected to shrink "tangibly" in 2009 due to the global financial crisis and the deepening recession, a senior official of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Sunday.

"We expect the world's air traffic operations to retreat tangibly this year due to expectations of deepening recession and its impact on both the cargo and passenger branches of air transport," Majdi Sabri, IATA's vice president for the Mideast and North Africa region, was quoted as saying by Jordan's official Petra news agency.

Sabri expected the world's cargo and the passenger traffic to drop by 3.6 percent and 5 percent respectively this year.

Last year, he said, there was a downturn of 2.2 percent for cargo and 2 percent for passenger traffic.

Sabri expected a 1.2-percent growth in air traffic operations in the Middle East and North African region this year.