IATA says Strong 2010 but uncertain 2011

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported full-year 2010 demand statistics for international scheduled air traffic that showed an 8.2% increase in the passenger business and a 20.6% increase in freight.

Demand growth outstripped capacity increases of 4.4% for passenger and 8.9% for cargo. Average passenger load factor for the year was 78.4% which is a 2.7 percentage point improvement on 2009. The freight load factor saw a 5.2 percentage point improvement to 53.8%.Compared to the pre-recession levels of early 2008, December air travel volumes were 4% higher. Air freight was 1% higher than pre-recession levels; however volumes have fallen 5% since the peak of the post-recession inventory re-stocking boom in early 2010.

The world is moving again. After the biggest demand decline in the history of aviation in 2009, people started to travel and do business again in 2010. Airlines ended the year slightly ahead of early 2008 volumes, but with a pathetic 2.7% profit margin.

The challenge is to turn the demand for mobility into sustainable profits,?said Giovanni Bisignani, IATA's Director General and CEO.Severe weather Europe and North Americain December put a dent in the industry's recovery.

It is estimated that this shaved 1% off of total traffic demand for the month. As a result passenger demand dipped to 4.9% growth on December 2009 levels, significantly lower than the 8.2% growth recorded in November. Hardest hit was Europe which saw December growth slow to 3.3%.