"We expect our business to return to a profit of $2.5 billion this year, after a loss of nearly $10 billion last year. But this will be a two-speed growth. While Asia-Pacific, North America and Latin America are expected to post profits, Europe remains weighed down with losses estimated at 2.8 billion dollars", explained Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of IATA. The continent's weak growth, the currency crisis, austerity plans and the volcanic cloud, which cost the European industry more than a billion euros, are all to blame for Europe's poor performance.
However, global demand should result in an overall increase in passenger traffic of 7 %, while average revenue per passenger should rise by 4.5 %. For IATA's CEO, the annual congress was also an opportunity to present his vision for 2050. By that date, Giovanni Bisignani predicts some 16 billion passengers (compared with 2.5 billion today). Air transport would then be based on four pillars: greater profitability, with a profit margin of 10 % compared with 0.5 % forecast in 2010. Giovanni Bisignani sees air transport being dominated by a dozen or so global groups, with regional or niche carriers also coexisting. By that date, carbon emissions from air transport should have fallen by 80 %, thanks in particular to the widespread use of biofuels.
Giovanni Bisignani imagines the virtual disappearance of aircraft delays thanks to air traffic control unified around a dozen centres and less congestion at airports, new technologies enabling home check-in and simplified, more efficient security. It's a vision, but one that almost all passengers would like to see.
