Global airline passenger traffic fell 10 percent last month, the steepest decline since the recession began, led by a plunge in long-haul travel.

The decline, gathering pace from a 5.6 percent fall in year-on-year traffic in January, included a 12.8 percent reduction in passengers flown by Asia-Pacific carriers and a 12 percent drop among North American airlines, the International Air Transport Association said today in a statement.

While passenger numbers continued to deteriorate, the pace of declines in the freight market leveled out. International freight volumes were down 22.1 percent from a year ago, compared with drops of 23.2 percent drop in January and 22.6 percent in December, IATA said.

"Gloom continues," IATA Chief Executive Officer Giovanni Bisignani said in the statement. "The sharp drop in February shows the broadening scope of the crisis. We may have found a bottom to the freight decline, but the magnitude of the drop means that it will take time to recover."

Airlines reduced capacity by 5.9 percent, not enough to keep up with the decline in passenger numbers. Carriers filled 69.9 percent of seats, a 3.2 percentage point decline from a year ago.