Hong Kong | Tuesday
THE losses of international and US domestic airlines are set to skyrocket to as much as $12-billion this year following the terrorist attacks on the US, the world airline organisation said on Tuesday.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it expected the losses of international carriers alone to rise to seven billion dollars from its earlier estimate of $2,5-billion dollars before the September 11 attacks in which hijacked aircraft smashed into the World Trade centre in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
”Before September 11, I was going to tell you of a forecast loss this year — 2001 — of $2,5-billion on the international scheduled services of IATA airlines worldwide,” IATA director general and chief executive Pierre J Jeannoit said at a press conference.
”One scenario we are looking at is a net loss of seven billion dollars on those services if traffic and capacity are both cut during September-December by 15%.”
This would amount to a reduction in international traffic of nearly five percent for the year, he said.
”To that loss you would have to add, to get a fuller world picture, the three to five billion (dollar) losses of US carriers on their domestic services.”
Jeannoit said it would take the global aviation industry a year to recover from the crisis stemming from the terrorist attacks.
He drew a parallel with the Gulf War in 1991, when traffic initially fell by 30-35% and was down 15% in following months.
The IATA — which represents around 275 airlines, or virtually all of the world’s major airlines — called for a range of measures to limit carriers from collapse and to nurse the industry back to health.
These included liberalising laws covering airline ownership and takeovers, improving security systems and communications between authorities and reducing insurance premiums.- Sapa-AFP