January 23, 2010
By BETTINA WASSENER
HONG KONG — Passenger and air freight numbers rallied in the Asia-Pacific region in December, and Korean Air returned to profit during the last quarter of 2009 — fresh evidence that the global economic recovery was starting to lift the battered airline industry’s prospects.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, which includes 17 carriers in the region but excludes many of those in mainland China, said Friday that passenger numbers in December 2009 were 8.5 percent above those in December 2008, when the financial crisis was prompting many tourists and businesspeople to scale back travel plans.
For the year as a whole, however, A.A.P.A. members flew 5.7 percent fewer passengers — a total of nearly 133 million — than in 2008. The effect on airlines’ sales was aggravated by the fact that high-yielding first-class and business travel was hit especially hard.
Air cargo, a main source of business for many A.A.P.A. member carriers, sagged 11 percent last year, despite a sharp rebound in December, when companies around the world raced to replenish their stocks.
Much of the airline industry continues to be very cautious about the prospects for this year, and the International Air Transport Association believes that global industry losses could total $5.6 billion in 2010.
Still, the recovery has begun to help some carriers back to profitability.
Korean Air, the largest cargo carrier among the world’s commercial airlines, posted a net profit of 122.3 billion won, or $106 million, for the fourth quarter of 2009. The airline had racked up a 644 billion won loss during the period a year earlier.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment