2009 officially the worst year for air travel
2009 saw the biggest decline in air passenger traffic in the post-war era, according to the International Air Transport Association. "In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen," said the group's boss Giovanni Bisignani. Passenger traffic dropped by 3.5% from a year earlier, while freight traffic fell 10.1% as the downturn hit demand. However, figures for December showed a rise in traffic of 1.6% on a year ago.
Despite the improvement at the end of 2009, Iata said 2010 would be a tough year for airlines the world over.
African airlines suffered the most in 2009, with passenger demand down 6.8%. Asia-Pacific and North American carriers saw demand fall by 5.8%, while European airlines suffered a 5% fall in demand.But Middle Eastern carriers saw passenger demand climb 11.3%, while Latin American airlines experienced a 0.3% rise.
Iata has estimated that airlines collectively lost US$11billion last year, and stand to lose a further US$5.6bn this year. Analysts said that price cuts designed to attract customers would continue to eat into airlines' profits.
Some airlines, such as Richard Branson´s Virgin Atlantic Airways, managed the worse of the recession due to purchasing fuel oil when it was low in price and hence when the cost of crude sky rocketed they had enough stockpiles and did not need purchase any fuel at the higher prices. Airlines like American Airlines and British Airways also a tough year with staff strikes which not only severely damaged their reputations, it also made their losses even greater.
Published in
Dominican Republic News Archive
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