Massimo pitis

Skies to get more crowded says IATA
The number of airline tickets sold is expected to rise to 3.3 billion by 2014 from 2009’s two and a half billion – an increases of nearly a third. The International Air Transport Association is making that prediction based on strong growth in Asia, particularly China. Global airlines have seen a strong rebound from the sharp downturn in 2009 as economies, notably in Asia, have recovered from the recession. But the international air body said the effects of the global recession were still affecting parts of the industry. “The shadow of the global economic recession is expected to remain over parts of the industry for some time to come,” IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani said. In December, IATA revised up its profit forecast for the whole airline industry to $9.1 billion this year from a previous estimate of $5.3 billion. Last year’s profit of the industry was estimated at $15.1 billion, compared to September’s forecast of 8.9 billion. The numbers compared to a total industry loss of $9.9 billion in 2009. Copyright © 2011 euronews