But Association Warns Risks Remain

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) late last week announced traffic results for May which showed a 6.8% increase in passenger traffic over May 2010. This is 4% higher than the beginning of the year. Freight traffic showed a drop of 4% against the post-recession peak of the re-stocking cycle in May 2010. However, recent months show a renewed upward trend with freight volumes 2% higher than the start of the year.

“We saw positive developments for the air transport volumes in May. International passenger load factors rebounded by 0.8 percentage points to 75.8%. Freight volumes improved by 1.2% over April and passenger volumes were up by 1.8%. These will help to alleviate some of the pressure on profits from continued high fuel prices,” said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA’s Director General and CEO.
 
“But there are risks associated with political unrest in the Middle East and the European currency crisis. We still expect the industry to make $4 billion this year. That is a pathetic 0.7% margin and another shock could alter the industry’s fortunes dramatically. It’s another tough year for a very fragile industry,” said Bisignani.

FMI: www.iata.org