IATA has trimmed its 2011 earnings forecast for the world’s airlines by 5.5 percent to US$8.6 billion from US$9.1 billion projected in December.
It is blaming rapidly rising oil prices,
IATA estimates that airlines earned US$16 billion in 2010.
The greatest impact will be felt in the Asia/Pacific region; carriers there are now expected to post earnings of US$3.7 billion this year, down from a forecast of US$4.6 billion in December and estimated earnings of US$7.7 billion in 2010.
Middle East carriers will be little impacted by the civil unrest in the region, returning a profit of US$700 million this year, raised from the prior estimate of US$400 million.
However, IATA said this would be down from the estimated US$1.1 billion the airlines earned last year.
IATA has also announced that its AGM will be held in Singapore from June 5-7, 2011. The event was originally scheduled to be held in Cairo.
“We look forward to hosting a future AGM in Egypt when its political transition is complete,†said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s director general and CEO.
