European air traffic beginning to recover

European airline traffic in June fell 0.5% from a year earlier, showing signs of recovery, albeit from very low levels, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said.

"The figures reflect the beginning of a diminution in the catastrophic traffic losses on far eastern routs provoked by the reaction to SARS, and a recovery in other regions in other regions from the lingering effects of the Iraq war," the AEA said.

The AEA cautioned that in June 2002 European airline traffic was 12% lower than in the previous year.

Regionally, far eastern and Australasian traffic fell 21.5% in June this year, while south Atlantic traffic was down 2.9%.

European routes posted a 1.9% rise, and north Atlantic routes were up 6.3%.