Airlines to lose $9bn in global crisis

Airline chiefs gathering in Malaysia yesterday were told that the revised figures, which are a major jump from the $4.7 billion forecasted in March, signaled that a recovery in the industry was a long way off. ?Today?s situation is unprecedented, the most difficult ever,? IATA Director-General Giovanni Bisignani told more than 500 aviation industry leaders at the two-day International Air Transport Association (IATA) annual meeting in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. In April, international air travel dropped 3.1 percent for passengers and 21.7 percent for cargo, compared to last year, IATA said. Its report warned that figures for May are likely to be much worse. In addition to the drop in demand for passenger and freight travel, the aviation industry is also faced with rising prices of jet fuel, which reached a six-month high of $75 a barrel last week. The challenges facing the industry will lead to an estimated $80 billion revenue loss for the year, a big hike from the $10.4 billion loss of revenue in 2008; Kazinform cites the Arab News. See www.arabnews.com for full version