AFRICAN carriers were expected to lose US$600 million (N$5,7 billion) this year, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday in a revised outlook for the year.
This was six times the US$100 million lost last year.
The continent’s carriers were losing market share on longhaul routes and demand was expected to drop by 7,8 per cent with only a six per cent fall in capacity, Iata said.
Iata said its revised outlook for the global air transport industry indicated losses of US$4,7 billion this year. Industry revenues were expected to fall by 12 per cent to US$467 billion.
‘The state of the airline industry today is grim,’ said Giovanni Bisignani, Iata’s director-general and chief executive.
‘Demand has deteriorated much more rapidly with the economic slowdown than could have been anticipated even a few months ago.’
Revenue implications of this fall would be exaggerated by an even sharper fall in premium traffic, Iata said.
However, falling fuel prices were helping to curb even larger losses. Total expenditure on fuel would fall to US$116 billion, compared to US$168 billion last year, Iata said.
‘But the relief of lower fuel prices is overshadowed by falling demand and plummeting revenues … The industry is in intensive care,’ said Bisignani.
-Nampa-Sapa
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