Bangkok--1 Apr--Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation IATA stated that falling load factors in Feb-08 in the four largest carrier regions show the growing impact of the US economic slowdown on the airline industry. When adjusted for the impact of the leap year, passenger demand increased by 4-5%, while freight was even more sluggish in the 2-3% range, according to the industry body. Director General & CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, stated, “demand is still growing, but clearly we are in a different league from the 7.4% and 4.3% growth that we saw in 2007 for passenger and freight, respectively. Things are slowing down”. IATA reports the global average passenger load factor fell 0.6 ppts to 73.3% in Feb-08 — the most significant monthly fall in four years. European load factor eased 1.6 ppts to 71.7%, while North American airlines experienced a 0.5 ppt drop to 74.0%. The Middle East saw a 0.9 ppts fall to 72.6%, while Asia Pacific carriers saw their load factors fall 0.1 ppts to 75.2% in Feb-08. IATA added that against the backdrop of a slowing US economy, the US-EU open skies agreement, would result in lower fares, due to intensified competition, with a resulting "counter-cyclical boost" in April traffic. But Mr Bisignani added, “the question will be how much, and for how long”. In Asia, carriers exposed to international premium markets will be more affected by a global economic slowdown, according to Singapore Airlines CEO, Chew Choon Seng. Mr Chew stated that while growth in the Singapore economy could slow a “few percentage points below forecasts” this year, the carrier is confident that outbound travel demand will hold up. But this is provided the problems in the financial sector don't trickle-down into the travel budgets of the corporate sector generally, according to Mr Chew. The SIA chief reiterated earlier comments that carriers with links to the still-expanding economies of India and China are better positioned than those elsewhere. But with falling load factors and pressures on international yields, as reported previously in Asia Pacific Airline Daily, airline managements are clearly becoming more cautious as we head deeper into 2008.