The global slide in air travel slowed for the first time in seven months in April as declines in European and North America markets eased.

Passenger traffic fell 3.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with an 11 percent drop in March, the International Air Transport Association said today. The decline was 2.7 percent in Europe, down from 11.7 percent, and 4.2 percent in North America, versus 13.4 percent a month earlier.
“The worst may be over,” Giovanni Bisignani, chief executive officer of Montreal- and Geneva-based IATA, said in a statement. “However, we have not yet seen any signs that recovery is imminent. We are not out of the woods yet.”