The world's scheduled airlines in 2009 experienced a 3.5 percent decline in passenger traffic and a 10 percent drop in freight, according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
 
"In terms of demand, 2009 goes into the history books as the worst year the industry has ever seen," said IATA Director General and CEO Giovanni Bisignani. "We have permanently lost 2.5 years of growth in passenger markets and 3.5 years of growth in the freight business."
 
He predicted that in 2010, "Revenue improvements will be at a much slower pace than the demand growth that we are starting to see. Profitability will be even slower to recover, and airlines will lose an expected $5.6 billion in 2010."

Passenger demand for the full year was down 3.5 percent with an average load factor of 75.6 percent. Freight showed a full-year decline of 10.1 percent with an average load factor of 49.1 percent.

December 2009 passenger demand recorded a 4.5 percent improvement compared to December 2008, with a load factor of 77.6 percent. While this is an 8.4 percent demand improvement from the February 2009 low point, it is still 3.4 percent below the early 2008 peak.

Carriers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America recorded year-on-year declines in passenger demand of 5.6 percent Middle Eastern carriers generated the fastest growth in passenger traffic at the end of the year with a 19.1 percent increase in December (and 11.2 percent growth for the entire year). Latin American carriers recorded 7.1 percent growth in December. Africa’s carriers experienced a sharp decline of 6.8 percent in 2009 primarily on an exceptionally weak first half. Their year ended with December demand at 3.1 percent above previous year levels.

 “The industry starts 2010 with some enormous challenges. The worst is behind us, but it is not time to celebrate. Adjusting to 2.5-3.5 years of lost growth means that airlines face another spartan year focused on matching capacity carefully to demand and controlling costs,” said Bisignani.

“We also face a renewed challenge on security as a result of the events of 25 December 2009. Governments and industry are aligned in the priority that we place on security. But the cost of security is also an issue. Globally, airlines spend $5.9 billion a year on what are essentially measures concerned with national security. This is the responsibility of governments, and they should be picking up the bill,” Bisignani added.

Ramon Lopez also serves as editor-in-chief of Air Safety Week; he has been covering air safety for more than three decades (rlopez@accessintel.com).

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