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Tuesday 08-Dec-2009 Airline ticket prices expected to increase worldwide
By  Traveltechie Bureau | Mumbai

According to the ITB World Travel Trends Report, commissioned by the world's leading travel trade show and compiled by the consultancy IPK International, a short to mid-term rise in the price of airline tickets is to be expected worldwide. Travellers will have to bear the cost of anticipated increases in taxes and charges by paying extra for tickets, according to the report. The ITB World Travel Trends Report states that in order to become profitable again airlines will have to significantly adjust their ticket prices. The findings are based on the assessments of 60 tourism experts from 30 countries, on a special IPK International trend analysis undertaken in leading source markets, and on core data supplied by the World Travel Monitor®, recognised as the largest ongoing survey of global travel trends in some 60 source countries. The report notes that "current airline prices are clearly too low to allow airlines to become profitable again".

Despite the worldwide recession the ITB World Travel Trends Report expects commercial aviation to grow dynamically over the next two decades. The Chinese market is predicted to expand annually by around 8.4 per cent, followed by the Asian-Pacific region (6.9 per cent) and South America (estimated at 6.4 per cent). The European market is forecast to grow by 3.4 per cent, lagging significantly behind the expected global average growth rate of 4.9 per cent.