The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects airlines to post a global profit of USD 2.5 billion in 2010. This is a major improvement compared to IATA’s previous forecast released in March this year of a USD 2.8 billion loss. Industry revenues are forecast to be USD 545 billion in 2010. This is up from the USD 483 billion in 2009, but still below the USD 564 billion achieved in 2008.

Giovanni Bisignani, Director General and CEO, IATA said, “The global economy is recovering from the depths of the financial crisis much more quickly than could have been anticipated. Airlines are benefiting from a strong traffic rebound that is pushing the industry into the black. We thought that it would take at least three years to recover the USD 81 billion (14.3 per cent) drop in revenues in 2009. But the USD 62 billion top line improvement this year puts us about 75 per cent on the way to pre-crisis levels.”

He added, “The USD 2.5 billion profit comes with some important health warnings. First, this represents a net margin of 0.5 per cent, which is a long way from sustainable profitability. Second, a major part of the global industry is still posting big losses. A stagnating economy, strikes, natural disasters, and a currency crisis have left European carriers struggling with an anticipated USD 2.8 billion loss.”