Agence France-Presse

The international airline industry faces a "grim" outlook as soaring fuel costs and economic turmoil hit passenger numbers, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned Thursday.

"The impact of skyrocketing oil prices and weaker economies has made its way to traffic growth," said IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani.

"The industry outlook is grim at best," he warned.

In April, the number of airline passengers grew by just three percent, against 5.4 percent in the same month the previous year, IATA said in a statement.

For the first four months of the year, growth stood at 5.6 percent against 6.7 percent the previous year.

The slowdown hit Europe particularly hard, with passenger growth of just 3.8 percent so far this year against six percent in the 2007 period.

Asia fared slightly better with 4.7 percent but this was still down from 6.2 percent the previous year, hit by the slowing Japanese economy and with long-haul routes to North America and Europe particularly under pressure.

By contrast, Middle Eastern airlines saw 12.4 percent growth in traffic in the first quarter, with their economies boosted by soaring oil revenues, developing tourism and additional airport and airline capacity, IATA said.