Geneva - Air traffic continued to contract in October, statistics released Thursday showed, marking the second consecutive month of global decline.

In September, global air traffic contracted by 2.9 per cent compared to the previous year, while in October the drop was slightly less drastic, standing at 1.3 per cent when compared to the same month in 2007, according to the International Air Transport Association.

International air freight traffic dropped by 7.9 per cent in October, the fifth consecutive month of such contractions.

"The situation of the industry remains critical," said Giovanni Bisignani, the director of the IATA, which says it represents 93 percent of scheduled international air traffic.

Asia-Pacific and North America marked declines last month, while Latin America and the Middle East saw slight growths of 4.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively in passenger flights but far below the double digit growth rate of the first half of the year.

Europe also saw a small increase of 1.8 per cent in October, while Africa suffered the largest decline and dropped nearly 13 per cent, but did see a small growth in cargo traffic along with the Middle East.

Latin America marked the largest decline, 11.4 per cent, in the air freight category. dpa