The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has released a robustly optimistic forecast for the aviation industry, driven by rapid growth, particularly in Asia
Airlines worldwide will make profits of US$2.5 billion in 2010, IATA said.
In March, IATA n had predicted global losses for airline businesses of $2.8bn.
“The global economy is recovering… much more quickly than could have been anticipated,” said IATA director general, Giovanni Bisignani.
“We thought that it would take at least three years to recover the $81 billion (14.3 percent) drop in revenues in 2009,” he added.
“But the $62bn top-line improvement this year puts us about 75 percent on the way to pre-crisis levels.”
The bulk of the revenue turnaround is predicted to come from Asia (excluding Japan), where IATA predicts 2010 GDP growth of seven percent.
IATA has also released its 2050 vision. “The questions about our future are endless. And we will not find the answers in isolation,†said Bisignani
Later this year, Bisignani will call leaders from airlines, industry partners, stakeholders, governments, and customers to meet in Singapore.
“Our goal is to build an industry that is even more successful at serving its customers—so successful that our customers will be our biggest advocates,†said Bisignani.
