Geneva, July 03: International air passenger traffic in May dropped 21 per cent largely because of the SARS health crisis, the global airlines body IATA said on Wednesday. IATA, the International Air Transport Association, said carriers in the Asia-Pacific region, focus of the outbreak of the deadly disease, saw the worst drop -- 50.8 percent down against the same period a year ago.

North American airlines carried 20.6 per cent less passengers on international flights, but European companies were down only 5.5 per cent. Bureau Report