International passenger traffic slumped 2.4% in April as flight cancellations due to a volcanic ash cloud from Iceland slammed the brakes on recovery, airline association IATA said today.
'The ash crisis knocked back the global recovery - impacting carriers in all regions,' Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association, said.
European carriers bore the brunt of the disruption from the volcanic ash cloud, with traffic dropping 11.7% in April.
Bisignani said this 'could not have come at a worse time' for the region. 'Europe's slow recovery from the global financial crisis and its currency crisis are already a huge burden on the profitability of its airlines,' he noted.
'The uncoordinated and excessive cancellations and unfairly onerous passenger care requirements rubbed salt into the European industry's wounds,' Bisignani said, reiterating his criticism of the way European governments had handled the ash cloud crisis.
The impact was felt beyond Europe, with North American carriers reporting a 1.9% decline in April as north Atlantic routes were also hit. This marked a sharp drop from the 7.8% growth posted for March.
Asia-Pacific airlines saw their traffic growth slow to 3.5% from 12.9% in March. Middle Eastern carriers reported growth of 13%, African carriers' traffic was up 8.6% while Latin American airlines recorded an increase of 1.2%. All were significantly slower growth than in March.
Cargo traffic suffered less, with growth slowing to 25.2% from 28.1% in March.
'The ash crisis was a shock. While there is always a danger of the consequences of renewed volcanic eruptions, the impact on passenger confidence should be limited,' Bisignani said.
'Unfortunately, we are trading ash for two additional uncertainties - strikes and a growing currency crisis - both of which are also focused on Europe,' he added.
He stressed that it was the wrong time for employees to ask for pay hikes or improved conditions, describing such demands as 'divorced from reality'.
