International airlines suffered their biggest decline in traffic since 1945 last year as passenger demand fell 3.5%, the International Air Transport Association said today.
Freight also fell, by 10.1%, 'as full-year 2009 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic showed the industry ending 2009 with the largest ever post-war decline,' IATA said.
'In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen,' Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the world's biggest airlines' association, said.
'We have permanently lost two and a half years of growth in passenger markets and three and a half years of growth in the freight business,' Bisignani added.
Passenger traffic had improved in the final months of 2009, after a slump triggered by the financial and economic crisis. In December, passenger traffic increased by 4.5% in December compared to the same month the previous year, and by 1.6% over November, latest IATA data showed.
While airlines had continued to cut capacity and flights, yields were still 5-10% below 2008 levels by the end of last year. IATA also predicted a slow recovery for cash-strapped carriers. 'Revenue improvements will be at a much slower pace than the demand growth that we are starting to see,' Bisignani said.
'Profitability will be even slower to recover and airlines will lose an expected $5.6 billion in 2010,' she added.
The industry association warned last month that airlines faced another turbulent year after they racked up an estimated $11 billion in losses in 2009 despite a recovery in passenger traffic.
IATA represents some 230 carriers that account for more than 90% of scheduled air traffic, but does not include most of the budget airlines.
