IATA’s DG Walsh said inflation at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – a grouping of 38 developed countries – was above 9 percent in April.
Globally, airline losses are expected to drop from $52 billion in 2021 to $9.7 billion this year, and industry-wide gains should be on the horizon in 2023, IATA Director-General Willie Walsh said here on Monday. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) represents some 290 airlines, comprising 83 percent of global air traffic.
Globally, the outlook for airlines is positive, but the business environment remains challenging, Walsh said in his inaugural address at the IATA’s 78th Annual General Meeting here. Listing all the challenges, he said inflation was above 9 per cent in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) – a grouping of 38 developed countries – in April.
“Our outlook (global) GDP is expected to grow by 3.4 percent this year. Not bad, but down on earlier forecasts,” Walsh said. The World Bank expects energy prices to rise 50 percent compared to 2021, he said. “Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine destabilizes globalization, threatens the world’s food supply, and has re-created geopolitical divisions not seen since the Cold War,” he said.
Fixing the battered balance sheets of airlines with US$650 billion in debt will be a major challenge, he said, adding that there is no way to address the bitter economic and political realities of airlines globally. “But both the desire to travel and the need to carry goods are solid.
Our industry is now lean, tough and agile. Our latest analysis shows losses in 2021 at close to USD 42 billion, a huge loss, but below our earlier estimate of USD 52 billion. , Industry-wide gains should be on the horizon in 2023,” he said.
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