Demand for air travel appears to be stabilising, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said on Tuesday.

The decline in passenger numbers had slowed, falling 7.1 percent in June following a 9.1 percent decline in May, Iata said in a statement.

The fall moderated in both premium and economy travel. Premium travel numbers were down 21.3 percent in June from 23.6 percent in May.

Economy travel showed a fall of 5.5 percent following a 7.6 percent drop over the same two months.

The "modest improvement" was not seen consistently across geographical markets.

In Asia and Europe-Asia markets saw an accelerated decline, even for economy travel, pointing to fears about swine flu.

The association said this apparent stabilisation in passenger numbers was partly at the expense of lower average fares and yields.