Airline companies expect a significant narrowing of losses in 2010, according to a survey carried out by the International Air Transport Association.
Improvements were seen in all the indicators of airline business confidence, the report said, but added that it did not necessarily mean a return to profit.
"A divergence was evident between more positive Asian airlines and more pessimism among European airlines but, for the first time since January 2008, a majority said profitability had improved in the last quarter 2009. Seventy- six per cent expect profitability to improve over the next 12 months," the report said.
IATA had earlier predicted that airline net losses will halve from 11 billion dollar in 2009 to 5.6 billion dollar in 2010.
According to an IATA statement received here yesterday, the report showed that there was a particularly sharp improvement in both cargo and passenger demand during the previous quarter, with the majority of airlines switching from reporting declining demand to rising demand.
Expectations for improvements in demand over 2010 have risen back to levels last seen in 2007, with more than 82 per cent of airlines expecting further gains in passenger demand and 72 per cent expecting improved cargo demand.
The IATA statement said there was optimism over yields, suggesting that an improvement in margins was expected. "There was still a majority of airlines reporting lower yields in the previous quarter. But this was significantly smaller than in October and expectations for the next 12 months are at a high," it noted. (Bernama)