BRUSSELS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Air freight at European airports grew by 16.8 percent year-on-year in December, industry data showed, as a fragile economic recovery provided support.
Passenger numbers rose 2.2 percent, airports body ACI Europe said, but it remained cautious about the prospects for 2010.
Overall, air freight was down 13.1 percent year-on-year in 2009, while passenger numbers fell 5.9 percent.
"This means 2.8 years of growth lost, with passenger traffic getting back slightly above 2006 levels," ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said in a statement.
"The downturn for freight was even worse, with four years of growth lost," he added. "While the year-end showed some signs of confidence returning, particularly for freight, the pace of recovery for passenger traffic is still very slow."
Freight showed a year-on-year recovery of 5.6 percent in November, but was in negative territory until October. (Reporting by Pete Harrison, editing by Dale Hudson)