Is unemployment, generally speaking, improving or getting worse?
What other international fundamentals have shown significant improvement?
I cant think of one - and no the stock markets are not fundamentals.
Don't mistake sentiment driven by stock market fear and greed, fear of missing a rally, and faux company profits based on creative accounting and govt bailouts as a sustainable recovery.
The Chinese economy is heavily dependent on massive govt stimulus - that cannot last a whole lot longer. The US economy is broken - next shoe to drop will be cubic losses in commercial real estate - shopping malls, factories etc. Why is that an issue? Think the retirement portfolios of 10s of millions of Americans. The Japanese economy is similarly reeling - how much longer before Australia follows around the S bend? Don't know but it can't be much longer....6 months maybe?
Then watch the govts stimulus run out of steam - watch the first home buyers grants bite all concerned on the arse big time.
Personally the loads I have been flying internationally have been excellent - came out of the ME the other night right on MZFW - 206 pax. I think this is due to 2 things,
1/. Most people have not lost their jobs yet and think the worst is over - so think they wont.
2/. Discounting by airlines.
I don't think that situation will necessarily hold up indefinitely. The world wide de-leveraging has a way to go yet.