Figures released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that international passenger traffic in December 2008 dropped by 4.6 percent compared to the same month in 2007.
Asia-Pacific carriers saw the sharpest decline in December international traffic at 9.7 percent. They also registered the sharpest reduction in capacity, but at 5.6 percentr, IATA said this is lagging behind the drop in demand. Load factors sank to 72.6 percent.
Carriers in the Middle East showed an almost four-percent increase in demand in December, far below the 10-percent capacity increase.
“2009 is shaping up to be one of the toughest years ever for international aviation,” said IATA director general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani.
Airlines registered a US$5-billion loss in 2008. For 2009, IATA is forecasting a further loss of US$2.5 billion based on a fuel price of US$60 per barrel, a decline of three percent in passenger volumes, a drop of five percent in cargo traffic and yield deterioration of three percent. In the face of this economic crisis, IATA is calling for major structural changes to the industry.
Source : TravelWeekly
[tags : recession bankrupt collapse retrenchment financial news collapse stagnation economic slowdown financial collapse world recession global recession layoff job cut]
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