Its hard to find positive news to start this week off with, so lets try to find the silver lining around the cloud of gloom. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) based in Geneva announced last week that although the airline industry will be loosing US$5 billion in 2008, lowered oil prices and passenger traffic during the second half of 2008, will mean airlines will cut fares in 2009 by about 5 percent.
The IATA announced that Asia-Pacific airlines will be the most severely hit loosing approximately US$1 billion in 2009 predominantly due to a drop in cargo. Asia-pacific carriers currently account for 45 percent of global cargo market .
Describing the present industry crisis as the toughest revenue environment in 50 years Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the IATA told the Times of India “Asia Pacific losses will more than double to $1.1 billion, the biggest ever…. Japan is in recession. China is suffering from a major drop in export market. India’s carriers, already suffering high taxes and insufficient infrastructure, can expect a drop in demand from last month’s tragic events.”
The global airline industry is expected to loose US$5 billion in 2008 and at least US$2.5 billion in 2009, according to IATA estimates as air traffic falls by 3 percent and employment falls by 1 percent in 2009 attributing 3-400,000 more job losses next year.
