NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Klaus Heinemann, the chief executive of aircraft-leasing company AerCap Holdings NV /quotes/comstock/13*!aer/quotes/nls/aer (AER 8.81, -0.09, -1.06%) , said Friday that he thinks the airline industry is already recovering from this year's falling demand, with higher passenger numbers and earnings growth. "In some markets, you already see positive numbers on the passenger side and earnings," Heinemann said in an interview. Improvements can already be seen in emerging markets such as China and Brazil, but it's also true for most local carriers, no matter what country they reside, Heinemann said. It has not been true, however, for the U.S. legacy carriers, because they have a higher dependency of premium air traffic. "But you are seeing signs of improvement," he said. Earlier, AerCap said its third-quarter profit fell 31% on fewer aircraft, maintenance and parts sales.