IATA says 2009 losses will be greater than expected
KUALA LUMPUR, (AFP) - Airlines face a “very difficult” year ahead and their losses during 2009 will be greater than the 2.5 billion dollars forecast just three months ago, industry association IATA said last week.
Giovanni Bisignani, the Director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said a recovery would only likely begin in 2010.
“Our last industry forecast made in December was for a 2.5 billion US dollar loss in 2009, based on a three percent fall in passenger demand and a five percent drop in cargo,” he said in a speech.
“This is now looking very optimistiac and next week we will issue a revised forecast,” he said.
Bisignani said the situation was much worse than after the September 11, 2011 attacks on the United States, when it took the industry three years to recover. “Here we have the entire system in crisis, and it will take a long time to recover,” he told reporters later. “Premium traffic has gone down, business class is empty.”
He said it was difficult to predict when a recovery would start, but that an uptick in cargo figures would be a reliable indicator.
“This year will be very difficult, and recovery will probably start some time in 2010,” he added. “It will be very difficult to see a profit in 2010.”
IATA said earlier this month that airline companies lost up to 8.0 billion dollars in 2008, with half of the losses incurred in the fourth quarter. Bisignani said that “tough times will continue” until confidence returns to the global economy and that in response, airlines would have to cut costs, reduce capacity, and innovate extensively.
The IATA boss was visiting Malaysia ahead of the association’s annual general meeting which will be held here on June 7-9. He said the meeting will focus on environmental issues and industry liberalisation.
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