IATA forecasts modest growth for airlines
The air transport industry has returned to pre-Sept. 11 business levels and will achieve a profit of $3.2 billion on international operations in 2004, according to estimates by the International Air Transport Association.
Profit margins are too small, however, to make up for three years of declining travel caused by the weak global economy, terrorism and outbreaks of disease, said IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani, according to summary of his remarks at a conference in Santiago, Chile.
“We cannot pin the long-term sustainability of the industry on margins of 2-3 percent,” Bisignani said.
According to February statistics, freight-ton miles grew 15.7 percent over the same 2002 period.