GENEVA, Switzerland -- International air passenger travel, recovering from the Iraq war and global health scares, grew 5.9 percent in January against the same month last year, said the airlines body IATA.

Freight traffic, a key indicator of trends in world trade, which is also picking up after two years of stagnation, was up 11.2 percent, according to IATA, the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association.

"This is a good start towards achieving the seven percent annual growth in global passenger traffic and 4.4 percent in cargo that we have forecast for 2004," said IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani in a comment issued with the figures.

Both passengers and cargo numbers showed an upswing in the last quarter of 2003.

All IATA's six global regions, including Europe and North America, reported solid increases in passenger numbers in January.

By far the biggest percentage rise was the Middle East, which saw passengers up by 30.3 percent and cargo by 31.8 percent against January 2003, when travel in and across the region declined sharply as the invasion of Iraq loomed.

But in passenger-figure terms the region accounts for just over two percent of the world totals.

North America, the biggest region with some 40 percent of all world traffic, saw a growth of 3.3 percent in international travel in January despite tougher security at U.S. airports.

Freight, however, declined in North America -- which also covers Canada - by 4.9 pct, reflecting the continuing slow pace of cargo recovery in the region from the setbacks of the early part of last year.

Passenger traffic in Europe, which has an average of around 30 percent of total travelers, increased by 3.8 percent, while cargo was up by eight percent.

In the Asia-Pacific region, hit hard at the start of last year by the spread of the deadly SARS, passengers were up 6.3 percent and cargo by 13.9 percent.

South America, which accounts for some five percent of all international passenger traffic, saw an increase of 3.3 percent, and Africa, which has nearly three percent of the global total, was up by 7.3 percent. ( * Reuters)