Airline Industry Faces $4.7 Billion in Losses in 2009
By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
24 March 2009
The International Air Transport Association says world airlines are set to lose $4.7 billion in 2009 due to the global recession, almost double the amount of loss predicted by IATA in December.
The International Air Transport Association says 2009 is shaping up to be one of the toughest years the airline industry has ever faced. It says the global economic downturn has caused passenger demand to fall by 5.6 percent and has made a big dent in cargo traffic.
IATA Director General, Giovanni Bisignani, says air cargo was down by more than 23 percent in January. He says this is a leading indicator not just for airlines, but for the whole economy.
"Air cargo represents 35 percent of the value of goods traded internationally. And, a slowdown in cargo means that the consumers are not buying and manufacturers are not producing. And, we can fully expect that the economic downturn of the following months will get worse before it gets better," he said.
Bisignani says the only bright spot in this otherwise gloomy picture is the lower price of fuel. He says this will help the industry, but not enough. He says the benefits from lower fuel prices are overshadowed by falling demand and plummeting revenues.
He says airlines will have to make sacrifices to keep from going under, but he says the one area they will not short-change is safety.
"Despite this difficult moment, despite the loss in revenues, the massive losses, this is the number one priority. And, this is still a good story. By the end of this month, March, all IATA members will have achieved IOSA registration," Bisignani said.
IOSA is the acronym for IATA Operational Safety Audit, a program the airlines use to measure their conformity with global safety standards.
IATA says Asia-Pacific carriers are the hardest hit by the economic crisis and can expect losses of $1.7 billion. By comparison, it says North American airlines are putting in the best performance and will make an estimated $100 million in profit this year.
Regarding other regions, IATA says European, Latin American and African carriers are expected to record large losses. But, it notes the Middle East will be the only region to maintain growth.
The International Air Transport Association predicts the airline industry will start to recover by the end of the year or the beginning of 2010. It says consumers will benefit from the airline's misfortune as leading airlines slash fares to woo customers.
世界航空業(yè)今年將出現(xiàn)巨額虧損
國際航空運輸協(xié)會(IATA)表示，由于全球經(jīng)濟衰退，世界航空業(yè)今年將會出現(xiàn)47億美元的虧損，比這個機構(gòu)12月份預(yù)測的數(shù)字幾乎高出了一倍。
國際航空運輸協(xié)會說，2009年看來將會成為世界航空業(yè)有史以來面對的最為困難的年度之一。該機構(gòu)表示，世界經(jīng)濟下滑導(dǎo)致乘客需求下降5.6%，貨運業(yè)務(wù)也大幅度下降。
國際航空運輸協(xié)會理事長喬萬尼.比西納尼(Giovanni Bisignani)說，1月份貨運下降了23%多。他說，這個數(shù)據(jù)不只是航空業(yè)的一個主要指數(shù)，也是世界經(jīng)濟的一個指數(shù)。
“貨運占全球商品貿(mào)易總值的35%。貨運下降就意味著消費者削減消費，制造商削減生產(chǎn)。我們完全可以預(yù)期，今后幾個月經(jīng)濟下滑的勢頭在好轉(zhuǎn)之前還要繼續(xù)惡化?！啊?
*燃油下跌好處被抵銷*
比西納尼說，在這個經(jīng)濟前景一片昏暗的畫面里只有一個亮點，就是燃油價格的下降。他說，油價下降對航空業(yè)有好處，但這并不夠。他說，燃油價格下跌帶來的好處被需求下降和收入減少所抵銷。
這位理事長兼首席執(zhí)行官表示，航空業(yè)將不得不承受一些犧牲來確保生存。不過，他還說，有一個方面航空業(yè)是不會降低標準的，這就是航空安全。
“盡管日子很艱難，收入在減少，虧損很巨大，但安全還是第一位的優(yōu)先。現(xiàn)在，這方面的情況還不錯。到3月底，國際航空協(xié)會的所有成員都將通過IOSA運行安全審計認證。“”
IOSA是國際航空運輸協(xié)會運行安全審計認證的英文字母縮寫。航空業(yè)通過這個IOSA認證來掌握世界各航空公司執(zhí)行安全標準的情況。
*亞太航空業(yè)受打擊最嚴重*
國際航空運輸協(xié)會表示，亞太地區(qū)航空公司遭受經(jīng)濟危機打擊最重，它們的虧損可能達到17億美元。相比之下，北美地區(qū)的航空公司表現(xiàn)最好，今年可以獲得預(yù)計一億美元的盈利。
世界其它地區(qū)，該協(xié)會說，歐洲、拉美和非洲地區(qū)的航空公司估計虧損會比較大。但是，中東地區(qū)將是唯一能夠保持增長的地區(qū)。
國際航協(xié)預(yù)測，航空業(yè)將會在今年年底或者明年年初開始復(fù)蘇。它認為，消費者將會從航空公司的困難中獲益，因為大型航空公司都在降低票價以吸引顧客。
