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(guó)際航空運(yùn)輸協(xié)會(huì)(IATA)表示,由于全球經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退,世界航空業(yè)今年將會(huì)出現(xiàn)47億美元的虧損,比這個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)12月份預(yù)測(cè)的數(shù)字幾乎高出了一倍。
國(guó)際航空運(yùn)輸協(xié)會(huì)說(shuō),2009年看來(lái)將會(huì)成為世界航空業(yè)有史以來(lái)面對(duì)的最為困難的年度之一。該機(jī)構(gòu)表示,世界經(jīng)濟(jì)下滑導(dǎo)致乘客需求下降5.6%,貨運(yùn)業(yè)務(wù)也大幅度下降。
國(guó)際航空運(yùn)輸協(xié)會(huì)理事長(zhǎng)喬萬(wàn)尼.比西納尼(Giovanni Bisignani)說(shuō),1月份貨運(yùn)下降了23%多。他說(shuō),這個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)不只是航空業(yè)的一個(gè)主要指數(shù),也是世界經(jīng)濟(jì)的一個(gè)指數(shù)。
“貨運(yùn)占全球商品貿(mào)易總值的35%。貨運(yùn)下降就意味著消費(fèi)者削減消費(fèi),制造商削減生產(chǎn)。我們完全可以預(yù)期,今后幾個(gè)月經(jīng)濟(jì)下滑的勢(shì)頭在好轉(zhuǎn)之前還要繼續(xù)惡化?!啊?
*燃油下跌好處被抵銷(xiāo)*
比西納尼說(shuō),在這個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)前景一片昏暗的畫(huà)面里只有一個(gè)亮點(diǎn),就是燃油價(jià)格的下降。他說(shuō),油價(jià)下降對(duì)航空業(yè)有好處,但這并不夠。他說(shuō),燃油價(jià)格下跌帶來(lái)的好處被需求下降和收入減少所抵銷(xiāo)。
這位理事長(zhǎng)兼首席執(zhí)行官表示,航空業(yè)將不得不承受一些犧牲來(lái)確保生存。不過(guò),他還說(shuō),有一個(gè)方面航空業(yè)是不會(huì)降低標(biāo)準(zhǔn)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?,F(xiàn)在,這方面的情況還不錯(cuò)。到3月底,國(guó)際航空協(xié)會(huì)的所有成員都將通過(guò)IOSA運(yùn)行安全審計(jì)認(rèn)證?!啊?
IOSA是國(guó)際航空運(yùn)輸協(xié)會(huì)運(yùn)行安全審計(jì)認(rèn)證的英文字母縮寫(xiě)。航空業(yè)通過(guò)這個(gè)IOSA認(rèn)證來(lái)掌握世界各航空公司執(zhí)行安全標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的情況。
*亞太航空業(yè)受打擊最嚴(yán)重*
國(guó)際航空運(yùn)輸協(xié)會(huì)表示,亞太地區(qū)航空公司遭受經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)打擊最重,它們的虧損可能達(dá)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(jì)一億美元的盈利。
世界其它地區(qū),該協(xié)會(huì)說(shuō),歐洲、拉美和非洲地區(qū)的航空公司估計(jì)虧損會(huì)比較大。但是,中東地區(qū)將是唯一能夠保持增長(zhǎng)的地區(qū)。
國(guó)際航協(xié)預(yù)測(cè),航空業(yè)將會(huì)在今年年底或者明年年初開(kāi)始復(fù)蘇。它認(rèn)為,消費(fèi)者將會(huì)從航空公司的困難中獲益,因?yàn)榇笮秃娇展径荚诮档推眱r(jià)以吸引顧客。