Passenger demand was up 0.5 percent in October 2009 compared to the same month last year, Iata said in a statement.
Demand for international cargo rose to 0.5 percent below previous year levels.
"This is significantly better than the 5.4 percent decline recorded in September," Iata said.
Load factors for passengers and cargo continued at pre-recession levels of 78 percent and 54.1 percent respectively.
"The improvement trend that has emerged since passenger traffic hit bottom in March is similar to the pace of growth in 2006 and 2007.
"Without an exaggerated rebound from pent-up demand, there will be no rapid catch-up to the growth trend established in the 2005 to early 2008 period," Iata added.
It said the crisis had cost the industry two years of growth.
"Adjusting costs and capacity to meet that reality will be challenging," Iata CEO Giovanni Bisignani added.
The improvement in load factors to pre-recession levels was largely the result of careful capacity management, Bisignani said.
Compared to October 2008, overall passenger capacity was down 3.3 percent.
Stripping out seasonal fluctuations, passenger capacity had been essentially flat throughout 2009.
Responding to the precipitous fall in cargo demand, October cargo capacity was 7.4 percent below the previous year's levels, Bisignani added.
"Cargo capacity adjustments have come with many freighters being put into storage or retired, resulting in a fleet reduction of 4.9 percent.
In contrast, the passenger fleet continues to expand by 1.8 percent as new deliveries more than offset those being stored or retired."
He said aircraft utilisation for both wide and narrow-body aircraft was now six percent below early 2008 levels.
"This low asset utilisation is increasing operating costs.
"Yields remain under severe pressure."
Although there had been a modest rise in air fares since mid-year, it remained around 20 percent less expensive to fly in real terms today than it was a year ago.
Bisignani said passenger demand was now six percent better than the low point reached in March 2009, but five percent below the peak recorded in early 2008.
Compared to September, seasonally adjusted passenger volumes rose by 0.8 percent, he added.
Bisignani noted that carriers in all regions except the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North America saw improved demand in October compared to September.
African carriers saw demand decline 2.6 percent in October, an improvement from September's -4.2 percent, he said.
African cargo traffic saw demand drop 3.8 percent in October, an improvement from the -6.9 percent in September, he added.
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